Ireland's best quality rivers and lakes are in decline and we need to heed the warning that "once they are lost, they are difficult to recover".
The Environmental Protection Agency’s latest report on water quality for 2025 shows no major change in the year as water quality remains unsatisfactory in many areas with nutrient levels remaining too high in a “large proportion” of water bodies.
Only 54 per cent of rivers and lakes recorded good or better biological quality with phosphorous and nitrate levels still too high in many areas.
“Ireland’s water quality is not improving overall, and that should concern all of us,” said the director of the EPA’s office of evidence and assessment Roni Hawe. “The decline in high status water bodies is a serious warning sign.”
The EPA report said a large proportion of river sites (43 per cent) have elevated nitrogen levels, many of which are found in the south and east of the country. The south and east also sees higher nitrogen levels in its groundwaters and estuaries.
Too much of either nitrates or phosphorus levels in a water body can disturb the ecosystem of the water, with estuaries and coastal waters particularly sensitive to nitrogen, and phosphorus a particular concern in rivers and lakes.
It said there is “no clear evidence that nutrient levels are falling in the long term”, with gains in the quality of water in some areas being cancelled out by declines elsewhere.
Our very best rivers, or “blue dot rivers” which have the highest number of pollution-sensitive aquatic fauna, continue to deteriorate with their condition dropping significantly over the past decade.
The EPA highlighted agriculture as the main source of nitrogen entering our waterways, while agriculture and wastewater are also the main sectors contributing to phosphorus inputs into the water.
It said all sectors have a role to play in addressing impacts on our water, but these ones in particular must continue to increase the amount and pace of their actions to reduce nutrient losses to water nationwide.
Such positive improvements can be made, according to its report, with six of the 16 rivers surveyed in the Ballyteigue-Bannow catchment of Wexford improving in biological quality in 2025.
The EPA hailed this as a “welcome sign” but said further research is needed to establish how exactly these improvements were made.
Ms Hawe added: “We need to act with greater urgency to cut pollution and protect the waters we all depend on. Our actions must match the scale of the problem.
“Targeted action and measures tailored to the specific challenges affecting each water body must be accelerated to shift the overall trend towards improving water quality.”
