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Water
53
of Good Agricultural Practice (GAP)
which is mandatory for all farms.
The Department of Agriculture, Food
and the Marine (DAFM) undertakes
approximately 3,500 farm surveys
each year under cross-compliance
rules. However, the GAP Regulations
are unlikely to be sufficient to protect
high-status water bodies in all cases,
and special sub-basin plans have
been prepared for freshwater pearl
mussel catchments. In addition,
DAFM and the EPA licensing
and enforcement activities have
important roles in the regulation of
landspreading of slurry generated
through intensive agricultural
activities.
The measures for tackling pollution
must also be also integrated with
other measures, such as drinking
water source protection or bathing
and shellfish waters management.
Surface water–groundwater
interactions must be taken into
account, and likewise river–lake and
river–estuary interactions, to ensure
that an holistic approach is taken
to water management in Ireland.
Finding sources of diffuse pollution
can be difficult. New investigative
tools such as the Small Stream Risk
Score (developed during the first
phase of the WFD implementation)
allow sources of diffuse pollution
to be pin-pointed by sampling
small streams across a catchment
upstream of a mainstem river site
that is polluted.
Domestic Waste Water Treatment
Systems
In most rural areas the majority
of the population use on-site
wastewater treatment systems such
as septic tanks. If poorly sited and/
or not properly maintained, these
systems can pollute groundwater,
surface water and drinking water
supplies and impact on human
health. The EPA has published
a revised code of practice for
wastewater treatment and disposal
systems in unsewered areas (EPA,
2010) that is referenced in revised
building regulations and will be
applicable for all new builds. New
legislation dealing with registration
and inspection of septic tanks was
passed in 2012 (Water Services
(Amendment) Act 2012). This
legislation is Ireland’s response to a
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling
against Ireland in relation to on-site
waste water treatment systems.
The new legislation provides for
the establishment of a registration
system for domestic on-site waste
water treatment plants and requires
the EPA to put in place a national
inspection plan in conjunction with
the local authorities.
Forestry Issues
Afforestation on peat soils has the
potential to cause significant nutrient
and silt losses at the establishment
and harvesting phases especially.
Large areas of maturing conifers
planted on upland peat soils are due
to be harvested in the coming years.
Residual phosphorus left behind can
leach out into surface waters due
to the low capacity of peat to bind
phosphorus. Silt loss from harvesting
operations can damage salmonid
spawning beds or freshwater pearl
mussel populations. Control of silt
and nutrient losses is required to
minimise the impact of forestry on
water quality. The Forest Service’s
iFORIS GIS-based management
system for forestry grants is being
used to ensure that planting, felling
and road building operations in
forests are approved only following
detailed environmental consultation
with a range of public bodies and the
general public.
Encouraging Results in Limerick
Catchment surveys and intensive follow-up measures by the
local authority focused on stemming diffuse pollution in the
catchment of the River Deel in Co. Limerick have shown some
dramatic improvements. Phosphate levels in the River Deel
have dropped by a factor of three since 2002 (Figure 4.8) and
ecological status had improved as a result (Goggin, 2011).
The increase in concentration in 2011 is attributed to slurry
spreading, at the start and end of the close period when
conditions are at their wettest, causing runoff to water.
Figure 4.8
Decline in Phosphate Concentrations in the River
Deel, at Askeaton Bridge, Co. Limerick (Source: Goggin, 2011)
0.00
0.05
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0.25
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ortho-Phosphate (µg/l P)