Investment in agriculture delivers
INVESTMENT in agriculture delivers. Sources in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) say increased farm storage for manure and slurry has already helped to improve groundwater quality, reporting that 85% of groundwater tested was “of good status” in 2007, 2009 and 2009.
Construction work for the €2bn investment in farm-waste storage finished on December 31, 2008. So, only one-third of the benefits were recorded in the three-year water-quality test period. The EPA confidently predicts that, in time, the improved storage, plus reduced use of inorganic fertiliser, will reduce nitrate and phosphate concentrations in groundwater.
Farmers and the Department of Agriculture and Food argued over taking credit, with the Department pointing out that €1.2bn came from their Irish exchequer-funded Farm Waste Management Scheme, and only €800m from farmers.
The Celtic Tiger was well able to afford €1.2bn at the time, it was probably some of the better spent money during the boom, but farmers were put to the pin of their collars to come up with €800m, and many of them will be paying back the loans for some years.
Aid was granted for 23,647 slatted houses. Counties that benefited most were Cork, with aid for 2,254 houses; Galway, with 2,035 houses; Donegal, with 1,593; Monaghan, with 1,557; Clare with 1,488; Cavan, with 1,445; Roscommon, with 1,412; Kerry, with 1,419; and Tipperary, with 1,349. Aid was granted for 856 houses in Limerick and 351 in Waterford.
Up to 10,000 farmers and their builders endured considerable difficulty completing their work, due to the record-setting high rainfall of 2008.
However, they can reflect on a job well done, and take at least some credit for the encouraging water quality results.
The number of seriously polluted waterways almost halved compared to the previous three years; the number of seriously polluted rivers is down to 20; 90% of lakes monitored are satisfactory.
Fish kills fell from 122 to 72.
Levels of potentially dangerous substances, such as pesticides and herbicides, were generally insignificant in water.
Better storage will prevent future cases of the agricultural discharges that left three rivers seriously polluted in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Of the total of 20 seriously polluted rivers, compared to 39 in the 2004-2006 period, municipal waste discharges were blamed for nine of the 20, three were due to a major landslide or bog burst caused by wind-farm construction, and five were due to mining, landfill, forestry and construction activities.
The 52.5 km of channel length for serious pollution in rivers and streams is the lowest level in recent decades.
Levels of contaminants in fish and shellfish remained low, and the quality of Irish seafood produce remains high. Not just the seafood business, but the entire, Irish food and drink industry can benefit on export markets from the EPA finding that Irish water quality continues at a better-than-average level compared to other EU member states.
With further actions to eliminate pollution from wastewater treatment plants, farming, and septic tanks, and the full contribution of the Farm Waste Management Scheme to come, things can only get better.
