Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

257 Chapter 10: Environment and Agriculture Glencar Waterfall, Co. Leitrim Phosphorus concentrations are too high in 28% of rivers and 36% of lakes, which in turn have an impact on the ecological health of our freshwaters. Phosphorus levels and the biological quality of our rivers and lakes have generally been stable in recent years; water quality is improving in places, but this is being offset by declines elsewhere. The sources of phosphorus on farm include mineral and organic fertilisers and manures, which run off when it rains, often in association with excess fine sediment. The key measures are eliminating the point source losses from farmyards and intercepting diffuse run-off pathways from fields that deliver the pollutants to waters. The EPA has produced phosphorus pollution impact potential maps 6 that show where the risky areas are for phosphorus losses from agriculture; these are currently being used to target measures. 6 www.catchments.ie/next-generation-pollution-impact-potential-maps-launched/ (accessed 31 May 2024). 7 www.farmingfornature.ie/your-farm/resources/best-practice-guides/watercourse-management/ (accessed 31 May 2024). 8 www.teagasc.ie/media/website/crops/crops/2015_08_FarmersProfessionalUsers_LowResWeb.pdf (accessed 31 May 2024). 9 S.I. No. 99/2023. 10 nfgws.ie/let-it-bee-project/ (accessed 31 May 2024). The agriculture sector also has an important role to play in keeping the physical condition of aquatic habitats in the beds and banks of water bodies stable and healthy. Excess fine sediment arising from run-off, bank erosion and in-stream channel maintenance can reduce the light availability and create poor habitat conditions for some species, as well as causing difficulties for drinking water treatment processes. Physical habitat conditions are also altered with drainage, channel and vegetation maintenance. Good management practice includes keeping bankside or riparian vegetation and stream channels intact to provide shade, food sources and habitat diversity. The Farming for Nature initiative has published a best practice guideline for watercourse management 7 for farmers, and an increasing number of projects and results-based payment schemes are now supporting farmers to implement best practice. The careful management of chemicals, including herbicides, pesticides and veterinary medicines (e.g. sheep dip), is also critical. They are toxic to aquatic life, and a tiny amount can affect drinking water quality. Teagasc has produced guidance on pesticide use for farmers, 8 which highlights that a single drop of pesticide lost to a typical small stream can be enough to breach the legal limit for pesticides in drinking water along 30 km of its length. The number of public water supplies with pesticides detected increased from 17 in 2022 to 23 in 2023. Further work is needed to engage with pesticide users in water catchments to ensure that these substances are used safely and in accordance with the manufacturers’ recommendations. The herbicide MCPA (2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid), which is often used to control rushes, ragwort and thistles, continues to cause the biggest problems (EPA, 2024f). The new Drinking Water Regulations, 9 which came into effect in Ireland in 2023, include a requirement to conduct risk assessments and implement measures in these water catchments to protect drinking water quality at source, before it reaches the abstraction point. Innovative schemes such as the ‘Let it Bee’ 10 campaign by the National Federation of Group Water Schemes is helping to raise awareness in drinking water catchment areas.