Poor water quality at scenic Cork lake to be tackled

Fishing in the winter sunshine on Lough Allua just outside Béal Átha an Ghaorthaidh, Cork. It has been designated as a priority area for water quality improvement works under the Local Authority Water Programme. Picture: Dan Linehan

Solutions are to be developed after a scenic Cork lake, popular for fishing and water sports, was identified as having poor water quality.

Lough Allua, which borders Béal Átha ’n Ghaorthaidh and Inchigeelagh, was assigned ‘poor’ status by the Environmental Protection Agency, and along with another nearby stretch of the River Lee downstream of Gougane Barra, is deemed at risk of not meeting EU Water Framework Directive objectives.

Lough Allua and the section of the river categorised as the Lee (Cork) 020, which has ‘moderate’ status, have been designated as a priority area for action under the Local Authority Water Programme (LAWPRO).

“The Lee (Cork) 020 River and Lough Allua comprise one of 190 Priority Areas for Action (PAA) across the country. Both the river and Lough Allua are protected for salmonids and currently not achieving their protected area objectives,” according to LAWPRO.

“The main issues in the Allua PAA are not identified yet. However, early desk study data suggests issues with nutrients in both the river and lake. Excessive nutrients can lead to impacts including increased algal growth and depletion of oxygen for invertebrates [such as mayfly, stonefly, and caddisfly] and fish. Physical modification may also be an issue in the lake; this can lead to impacts on habitat, particularly for fish.”

 At an online meeting with stakeholders and members of the local community, LAWPRO representatives said assessments will begin shortly in the area to identify water quality issues and ways in which they may be remedied.

Among the issues highlighted at the meeting, along with possible farming, forestry, or industrial impacts on water quality, was the status of wastewater treatment plants for the villages of Béal Átha ’n Ghaorthaidh and Inchigeelagh.

In Inchigeelagh a sewerage scheme is already planned, which according to Irish Water “will stop the discharge of 220 wheelie bins of raw sewage into the River Lee per day”.

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However, Béal Átha ’n Ghaorthaidh, with a village population of more than 200, plus national and secondary schools and an Irish summer college, is served by a septic tank constructed in the 1930s to serve approximately 10 houses.

Following a community campaign, the village — identified for a possible 30% increase in housing under the new Draft Cork County Development Plan — saw a wastewater treatment plant approved for Department of the Environment funding in 2004.

The treatment plant never came to fruition, however, and local landowner Seán Ó Súilleabháin, one of those instrumental in the community campaign nearly two decades ago, was in attendance at the LAWPRO meeting.

While acknowledging the role of farmers and other landowners in tackling the poor condition of Lough Allua, Mr Ó Súilleabháin said Cork County Council must also play its part regarding the septic tank in Béal Átha ’n Ghaorthaidh.

He told the Irish Examiner: “Farmers are part of the solution. But what the farmers need is for the county council to stop putting raw sewage into the river. It makes no sense whatsoever.

“It’s ridiculous that the council want the landowners and the forestry people all to take it seriously when they [the council] don’t.”

LAWPRO catchment scientist Paul O’Callaghan noted during the online meeting that the septic tank was “certainly overloaded and probably not fit for purpose”. He said biological and chemical sampling and assessment of the water quality, along with other pollution indicators such as excessive algal growth, would determine what actions were required.

Catherine Seale-Duggan, community water officer, outlined funding available under LAWPRO’s community water development fund, under which 19 successful applications had been made in Co Cork, including in Inchigeelagh. She encouraged the community to engage in the process of identifying water-quality issues and solutions and said: “All the plans in the world won’t work unless we have local people involved to help out and implement them on the ground.”