Agricultural run-off and poorly treated human sewage are the main reasons there’s been no improvement in Ireland’s water quality.
A new report from the EPA found while there were improvements in some areas last year, they were offset with falling standards in others.
Average nitrate levels in rivers, groundwater, estuaries and coastal waters are largely unchanged and remain too high in the east, southeast and south.
CEO with Sustainable Water Network Sinead O’Brien says our rivers, lakes and coasts need to be protected, noting; “We’re starting from a very low base of half our waterbody’s unhealthy but it’s not showing any improvement whatsoever, in fact this shows a slight deteriorating in the amount of rivers and lakes that are healthy so we’re calling on the Government to introduce far stronger measures to address this situation for once and for all”.
