EPA finds rivers have deteriorated since 2016
The Environmental Protection Agency has found Irish water quality has deteriorated in the last two years.
197 rivers have improved, but 269 have undergone a loss of quality, which gives an overall decline of 3%.
However, the incidents of serious pollution have fallen sharply. Only two river water bodies were classified as seriously polluted in the latest reporting period compared to five in the previous report in 2015.
Historically there were 91 seriously polluted water bodies in the late 1980s.
EPA Science Officer Wayne Trodd says incidents of serious pollution and fish kills are at an all-time low, but the problem we are facing now is too much nitrogen and phosphorus getting into our water.
He said: "The plan is to start tackling these issues on a local level using the local water communities officers.
"So, they will be looking at the local authorities, they will be looking at the rivers at the local level and seeing what the problem is and where it can be tackled."
