EPA - Ireland's Environment, An Integrated Assessment - 2020

Chapter 7: Water Quality Water Quality 1. Introduction Water is needed to sustain life and is an important and integral part of our everyday existence. In the home, it is used to clean and cook the food we eat, while at work water is a vital raw material in numerous processes from food production to the manufacture of computer components. Water is also used for recreational purposes such as swimming and canoeing, while fishing and angling activities attract thousands of tourists to Ireland every year. Ireland’s rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters are home to thousands of plant and animal species ranging from tiny river insects and marine invertebrates to birds such as kingfishers and animals such as otters to name but a few. Therefore, maintaining our waters in a healthy condition is critical if we are to maintain a vibrant and healthy society and an aquatic environment that will support a rich diversity of species and habitats (see Chapter 6 on biodiversity). Water is a hugely important national resource that provides a multitude of benefits to the people of Ireland. This resource needs to be protected to ensure that the benefits that currently arise can be enjoyed by future generations. Our waters need to be protected against a range of human activities that cause water pollution and affect the physical integrity of water bodies and habitats. These human activities, together with climate change, continue to threaten the quality and availability of water. Protecting our freshwater resources also protects the marine waters that our rivers flow into (see Chapter 8 on the marine environment). The aim of European Union (EU) and national water policy is to protect clean waters and to restore polluted waters. However, water quality in Ireland is now getting worse after a period of relative stability and improvement (EPA, 2019a). Not only are we seeing a persistent decline in the highest quality waters, but we are also seeing an increase in the number of most polluted rivers. Many of Ireland’s protected water habitats also have unfavourable conservation status as a result of declining water quality (see Chapter 6 on biodiversity). Ireland has established a National River Basin Management Plan 2018-2021, which sets out the steps to be taken to protect and improve water quality. The plan outlines the key measures that will be put in place to address water quality issues and the level of improvement expected from these measures (Government of Ireland, 2018). This chapter presents an overview of the status of Ireland’s surface water (i.e. rivers, lakes, estuaries, lagoons and nearshore coastal waters) and groundwater resources together with information on the pressures and impacts caused by various human activities. The chapter will also outline the resources and measures that are being put in place to address water pollution. Other issues that affect the broader marine environment such as overfishing, climate change and marine litter are covered in Chapter 8, while general habitat quality and species diversity in surface waters is discussed in Chapter 6. Some key water and health issues are covered in Chapter 14. 2. Current Situation The State of Our Surface Waters Nearly half of the surface waters in Ireland are failing to meet the legally binding water quality objectives set by the EU Water Framework Directive because of pollution and other human disturbance. The ecological health of Ireland’s rivers, lakes, canals, estuaries and nearshore coastal waters is assessed by looking at a range of different aquatic organisms whose presence, diversity and number tell us about the ability of these waters to support healthy and diverse biological communities. For example, the abundance and composition of river macroinvertebrates (tiny animals without backbones such as insects, worms and snails) is used to assess river biological quality. Information on biology and general water quality (e.g. nutrients, dissolved oxygen, pH) is used to assess ecological status, which is an expression of the ecological health of these waters. The ecological status indicates whether a water body is being damaged by pollution, water abstraction or habitat degradation. Waters at high and good ecological status show only minor or slight changes from natural conditions, whereas waters at less than good status (i.e. moderate, poor or bad) are moderately to severely damaged by pollution or habitat degradation. Assessing the ecological status of water bodies helps guide the identification of appropriate management measures for their protection and restoration. 161