Ireland's Environment: Water

Current trends in water quality

While the percentage of groundwater bodies and coastal water bodies in satisfactory quality is well above the European average, our rivers, lakes and estuaries are not doing as well. Only 50 per cent of rivers, 69 per cent of lakes and 36 per cent of estuaries are in satisfactory ecological health. Furthermore, while there have been some improvements, these are being cancelled out by declines during 2016-2021. There has been a marked decline in the water quality of our estuaries, with an additional 15.7% that are no longer in a satisfactory condition.

The pressures causing this level of deterioration need to be addressed. This can be done by implementing the measures identified in Ireland’s national river basin management plan and by using existing knowledge to ensure that the right measure is being applied in the right place.

Learn more about current trends

Causes of pressure on the water environment

A number of human activities are responsible for water pollution, so preventing water bodies from achieving their environmental objectives. The most common in Ireland are agriculture, activities that result in physical changes being made to water bodies (e.g. flood defences, drainage works, etc.), discharges from waste water treatment plants and forestry.

Significant agricultural pressures include runoff of nutrients and sediment from agricultural lands and farmyards, and the contamination of surface waters with pesticides. Nutrients and other substances discharged from waste water treatment plants can lead to organic and nutrient enrichment with consequent impacts on dissolved oxygen levels and biological communities. Poorly treated sewage can also pose a public health risk by potentially contaminating the source of drinking water supplies with harmful bacteria and viruses. The most common water quality problems arising from forestry in Ireland relate to the release of sediment and nutrients to the aquatic environment and impacts from acidification. Forestry may also give rise to modified stream flow regimes caused by associated land drainage.

Our marine and coastal areas are impacted by several human-induced pressures including fishing, eutrophication, climate change and litter. Coastal development has resulted in an increase in the range and magnitude of pressures that have the potential to impact negatively on the quality of Ireland’s tidal waters.

Learn more about the causes of impacts on the water environment

What's being done

A waste water treatment plant with a tree in the foreground

Ireland’s second-cycle River Basin Management Plan 2018-2021 represents an integrated national approach to river basin planning, based on a new three-tier governance structure and the formation of a single national River Basin District. The Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) and the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP) were set up under this Plan. It also established the Blue Dot Catchments Programme to give focus to the protection of remaining high status waters. Underpinning the new water governance arrangements for managing water quality is the integrated catchment management-based approach.

Ireland's Nitrates Action Programme aims to prevent pollution of surface waters and groundwater from agricultural sources and to protect and improve water quality. When LAWPRO identify a water quality issue related to agriculture they notify ASSAP who in turn work with local farmers to identify where improvements in water quality can be made.

The Plan also provided for an investment by Irish Water of €1.7 billion in wastewater projects, programmes and asset maintenance. The Utility is charged with providing infrastructure to eliminate the discharge of raw sewage and completing the improvements needed to ensure waste water does not prevent receiving waters from meeting their environmental objectives.

At a European level, the EU Green Deal includes specific action plans and strategies for clean water.

Learn more about what's being done about water quality

Outlook for Ireland's water environment

There was an overall net improvement in the 190 Areas for Action prioritised in the River Basin Management Plan (RBMP) 2018-2121, showing that action taken to improve water quality delivers results. The knowledge gathered in monitoring programmes and water-related research projects needs to be used more widely. It can provide information and solutions to water quality problems and inform policy development in this area.

While some water bodies improved in status in recent years, overall there has been a decline in surface water quality. If this rate of decline continues, it is unlikely that the modest targets set in Ireland’s second-cycle RBMP will be met. Nearly 1,500 water bodies have been identified as being at risk of not meeting their environmental objectives.

Local community initiatives are providing opportunities for local communities and farmers to get involved in local water quality catchment-based projects. With the support of LAWPRO, these initiatives have the potential to more effectively tackle threats to water protection and restoration at a local level.

Key developments for the protection of marine waters include the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the Marine Spatial Planning Directive, and the adoption of measures stemming from the review of the Common Fisheries Policy.

Climate change is expected to bring additional pressures to bear on Ireland's water environment. Waters which are clean and relatively free of pollution will be more resilient. The ecological health of our inland surface waters will ultimately determine the ability of these waters to cope with the effects of climate change.

Learn more about the outlook for our water environment