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

Chapter 7: Water Quality 3. Drivers and Pressures The Significant Pressures on Ireland’s Aquatic Environment The top three significant pressures on the ecological health and quality of our waters are agriculture, hydromorphology (physical changes) and urban wastewater. Ireland’s surface waters are being damaged by pressures arising from various human activities. The most significant pressures, those considered to put a water body at risk of not meeting its environmental objectives, were identified and reported in the National River Basin Management Plan 2018-2021, following a comprehensive assessment by the EPA of various human activities and their potential impact on the aquatic environment. This information is available at www.catchments.ie. The assessment showed that the most significant pressures, in terms of the number of water bodies at risk of not achieving good status, were agriculture (53% of water bodies at risk), hydromorphology (i.e. change in the shape and flow of water bodies due to physical alterations: 24%), urban wastewater (20%) and forestry (16%). The complete breakdown is shown in Figure 7.9. Figure 7.9  Significant pressures on Ireland’s aquatic environment (Source: EPA) River Lake Coastal Estuarine Groundwater Agriculture Hydro- morphology Urban waste- water Forestry Other Domestic waste- water Urban run-off Peat Industry Mines and quarries 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 2,069 Land Use in Ireland Agriculture Forest Urban Other 171