The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published the full monitoring network results of the levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in Irish waters in 2024.
The Water Quality Monitoring Report on Nitrogen and Phosphorus Concentrations in Irish Waters 2024 is an annual report which provides an update on the results of water quality monitoring to support the assessment of the impact of the nitrates derogation on Irish waters, as required under Regulation 37 of the European Union (Good Agricultural Practices for the Protection of Waters) (Amendment) Regulations.
The assessment incorporates data from over 1500 monitoring stations from the national monitoring network which are representative of the impacts of agriculture on water quality in our rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal waters and groundwaters.
The analysis shows that, overall, nitrogen levels in rivers have reduced nationally in 2024 compared to 2023, which is consistent with the recently published Early Insights report.
There has also been a reduction in groundwater nitrate concentrations in the southeast of the country, although there has been little change in groundwater levels overall nationally. The number of estuarine and coastal waterbodies with unsatisfactory nitrogen levels has however slightly increased by three. Groundwaters, estuaries and coastal waters can take longer to respond to changes in land use practices than rivers and this is reflected in the data.
Overall, phosphorus concentrations have not changed significantly in 2024 compared to 2023 and remain elevated in localised areas associated with poorly draining soils.
The EPA said that nutrient pollution from agriculture is a key issue impacting water quality and that significant actions are underway by the sector to reduce nutrient losses. Ongoing and sustained actions will be needed to reduce nutrients to satisfactory levels before the ecological health of our waters will improve.
