Rivers of the South and South-East are still in serious trouble

Rivers of the South and South-East are still in serious trouble

An Taisce welcomes the recent report from the EPA which shows that concentrations of river nitrogen pollution have decreased across some of our main rivers in 2024. However, it’s important to note that levels still remain far too high in the South and South-East of the country where most derogation farms are located. 

Dr. Elaine McGoff, Head of Advocacy with An Taisce said: 

“Any improvement in water quality is clearly welcome, but when it comes to nitrogen pollution, the south and south-east is where nitrogen pollution is a really serious ongoing concern. These are the areas which overlap with the most intensive dairy farming in the country and are home to the majority of derogation farms. 

And unfortunately, this report is still bad news for those areas. Nitrogen levels are still almost 40% too high in those rivers. That means that many rivers in these areas will remain significantly polluted unless stronger measures are implemented. 

What we would like to see is analysis which explains what is driving this improvement. It would appear to be a nationwide decrease, which indicates that it’s something which is happening at a very broad national scale, across all farm and land types. We need data that shows which, if any, of the measures being implemented at the moment are contributing to this reduction and then what stronger measures are needed to fill the huge gap that is still left for rivers in the South and South-East. 

We’ve now had over a decade of water quality decline, with agriculture being one of the key drivers of that water pollution. While the apparent improvement is welcome, what we really need at this point is clear evidence that the measures being put in place by farmers are effective for adequately preventing agricultural nitrogen pollution. I’ve yet to see that evidence, and the nitrogen levels in the rivers of the South and South-East are telling us those rivers are still in serious trouble.”