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Water
55
Outlook
Over the years, water protection
efforts have succeeded in reducing
the extent of serious pollution in
rivers from 174 km in 1971 to just
18 km in 2011. The main task now
is to improve the status of some
4,000 km which is currently at less
than good ecological status. With a
focused programme, emphasising
the same site-by-site approach, that
has worked well with the seriously
polluted sites, progress can be made
in achieving the status targets set out
in the RBMPs under the WFD.
Lake water quality has remained
relatively static over recent decades,
albeit with some dramatic reductions
in chlorophyll levels due to the
introduction of zebra mussels. Lakes
will respond to measures to reduce
nutrient inputs more slowly than
rivers, but nonetheless the measures
taken to address river pollution are
also the key to improving lake water
quality, as very few lakes have direct
discharges into them.
Some improvements in the water
quality of transitional and coastal
waters have been noted due to the
commissioning of new waste water
treatment plants in coastal towns
such as Sligo Bay and the Liffey
estuary. There is still a significant
lack of adequate treatment levels in
many coastal towns, with 42 towns,
important as tourist centres linked to
water activities, without secondary
treatment. The control of nutrient
inputs from inland diffuse and point
sources is also crucial in improving
the water quality of estuaries and
bays.
Groundwater status is heavily
dependent on surface water status,
and a good understanding of the
linkages between surface water and
groundwater is required in order
to ensure success in improving
groundwater quality. Overall, there
is a continued need for improved
protection of groundwater, especially
in the context of achieving the
WFD objective of good status for all
waters by 2015. In some instances,
it will not be feasible to meet this
objective by this deadline, as it may
take a number of years for the
measures to bring about a reduction
in concentrations of nutrients. This is
because the nitrate and phosphate
will require time to flush through the
groundwater system. If all the basic
and supplemental WFD measures are
implemented, the objectives should
be reached within the 2021 or 2027
extended deadlines. However, for
a small number of water bodies
(for example, with pollution from
historic mining activities), it is likely
that it will not be technically or
economically feasible to achieve the
WFD objective by 2027. These bodies
will be candidates for less stringent
objectives.
Special protection measures are
needed to protect and restore
high-status waterbodies of all
types, as they are susceptible to
degradation due to pressures such as
field drainage and fertilisation, tree
planting, tree felling, house-building,
onsite waste water treatment plants,
insecticide usage, road building and
wind farm construction. The impacts
of these pressures are not always
easily controllable under current
legislation.
The development strategy for the
agriculture sector,
Food Harvest
2020
(DAFF, 2010) proposes a
50% increase in milk production
by 2020. While environmental
sustainability is a key underlying
principle of
Food Harvest 2020
, the
milk production targets will present
a significant challenge to meeting
WFD objectives. It is vital that future
agricultural practices be developed
and implemented to be fully
sustainable, and not prevent Ireland
from meeting its EU obligations in
relation to water.
Figure 4.9
Level of Treatment in Irish Wastewater Treatment Plants 2007–2009 Based on Equivalent Number of Persons
(Source: EPA)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
2009
2008
2007
No Treatment
% p.e.
Preliminary
Primary
Secondary
Secondary with nutrient reduction