Water Quality Legislation and Regulations
Statutory responsibility for water management and protection rests primarily with local authorities. The Local Government (Water Pollution) Acts 1977 and 1990, and regulations made thereunder, including regulations giving effect to EU Directive, constitute the main national legislation in this regard.
The Local Government (Water Pollution) Acts 1977 and 1990 enable local authorities to:
- prosecute for water pollution offences;
- attach appropriate pollution control conditions in the licensing of effluent discharges from industry, etc., made to waters or to sewers;
- issue notices ("section 12 notices") to farmers, etc., specifying measures to be taken within a prescribed period to prevent water pollution.
- issue notices requiring a person to cease the pollution of waters and requiring the mitigation or remedying of any effects of the pollution in the manner and within the period specified in such notices;
- seek court orders, including High Court injunctions, to prevent, terminate, mitigate or remedy pollution/its effects;
- prepare water quality management plans for any waters in or adjoining their functional areas;
- make bye-laws regulating certain agricultural activities where the local authority considers this to be necessary so as to prevent or eliminate pollution of waters,
- issue notices requiring farmers to prepare nutrient management plans with the aim of ensuring that nutrients applied to land from chemical fertilisers and organic farm wastes, e.g. slurries, take account of nutrients already available in the soil and are consistent with recommended application rates, crop requirement and the need to avoid water pollution.
Further information about water quality legislation and policy is available at www.environ.ie and via the Enfo fact sheets.
The text of Irish Legislation can be viewed online in the Irish Statute Book available on the Attorney Generals website.
The Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC is also a key new legislation, which will focus work in the areas of Water Quality, through the establishment of River Basin Management Systems.
Surface Water Quality
The Environmental Protection Agency carries out monitoring of the biological river water quality at River Sites in County Donegal. Biological River Water quality is ranked by Q value, whereby the highest (best) Q rating is 5 and the lowest Q rating is 1. The EPA website contains interactive maps that give a map display of river monitoring stations colored by Q rating.
In addition, the EPA publishes a 3-year summary of its findings and looks at trends for rivers, lakes and estuarine waters. The following data has been extracted from the most recent report, covering the 3 year period from 2000-2003.
Over 87% of river channel (as of 2003) in County Donegal is classed as unpolluted, compared to a national figure of 69.2%. Donegal compares favourably in slightly & moderately polluted and is slightly worse in the seriously polluted category.
Looking at the trends over the last decade, it may be seen there has been an increase in the % of unpolluted channel by about 3% in the first 3 years of the new millennium, compared to the previous 6 year period.
The EPA’s report classifies the main causes of river pollution as municipal, agriculture, industrial, unknown and others. They have noted that some rivers, including the River Finn, have made a complete recovery to an unpolluted classification due to the installation of new sewage treatment facilities. In addition, the Council’s monitoring work, coupled with farm surveys & education through Teagasc & farming bodies, have led to a reduction in agricultural pollution in some areas. The monitoring of licensed industrial discharges is also leading to improvements in that area.
Water Quality of Lakes
With many lakes used as abstraction sources for drinking water, there is a comprehensive programme of monitoring carried out on lakes in the county. In addition, the EPA requires that of the 120 lakes, approximately 40 are monitored annually on a 3-year cycle, using the following 3 indicator parameters – total phosphorus, chlorophyll and water transparency, to assess the level of eutrophication and its’ effects. The input of phosphorus, primarily through losses from agricultural activities, (such as farmyard run-off & chemical fertilizer application), and municipal & industrial waste discharges, commonly results in algal, cyanobacterial and other plant growth, which in turn, leads to poor light penetration and oxygen depletion in the deeper layers of the lake.
The EPA reports on the water quality of lakes on a sliding scale from Oligotrophic, (unpolluted), mesotrophic, eutrophic to hypertrophic, (highly polluted). The national figures for 2000-2003, show that 82% of lakes are Oligotrophic, 16% are Eutrophic and 2% hypertrophic. Recent results of Donegal’s lakes show that most fall into the Oligotrophic category, with one lake approaching the mesotrophic category.
Effluent Discharge Licences
Effluent discharges from commercial activities, including industries and hotels, may be classified into two types, each requiring a licence under different sections of the Local Government (Water Pollution) Act 1977 & 1990;
- Discharges to sewer - under Section 16 of the Water Pollution Acts.
- Discharges to waters – under Section 4 of the Water Pollution Acts.
The Council maintains Registers of these licences. The application for a Discharge Licence is similar to an application for Planning Permission, with the same necessity to publish a public notice in the press, (in the case of waters), and the same procedure for appeal (to An Bord Pleanala). There is an ongoing programme of sampling of discharges to ensure compliance with licence conditions and the Council may issue notices, (under section 12 or 16 of the Act), specifying measures to be taken within a prescribed period to (a) prevent water pollution and/or (b) cease the pollution of waters and requiring the mitigation or remedying of any effects of such pollution. The Council may also prosecute for water pollution offences and/or seek court orders, including High Court injunctions, to prevent, terminate, mitigate or remedy pollution and its effects.
Large industrial or agricultural activities require an Integrated Pollution Control Licence from the Environmental Protection Agency. Details of the classes of activities needing an IPC are available at www.epa.ie.
Further information can be obtained by contacting: Water Pollution Laboratory, Magheranan, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal. Tel: 074 91 22787
Phosphorus Regulations, 1998
Since one of the key nutrients contributing to Water Pollution is Phosphorus, Donegal County Council works to implement the provisions of the Phosphorus Regulations 1998.
The Phosphorus Regulations require local authorities to prepare Phosphorus Implementation Reports, outlining progress towards combating phosphorus pollution, with targeted reduction of phosphorus for Rivers and Lakes. This will be achieved through the on-going monitoring programme, farm inspections, licensing of industry and the on-going upgrading of sewage treatment plants.
Water Framework Directive & NS Share Project
The setting up of River Basin Districts (RBD) on a national level is a requirement of the EU Water Framework Directive – 2000/60/EC. The North South Shared Aquatic Resource (NS Share) Project is a cross border project that comprises of three River Basin Districts. The North Eastern RBD is located completely in Northern Ireland, while the Neagh Bann RBD and the North Western RBD are both International River Basin Districts due to the transfrontier nature of the river basins. This project is supported by the EU INTERREG IIIA Programme for Ireland/Northern Ireland. It was set up to implement the objectives of the Water Framework Directive in the region. This Directive is the most substantial and innovative piece of European Union water legislation to date. It sets out a detailed framework for the protection, improvement and sustainable use of our waters. See www.wfdireland.ie and www.nsshare.com for further information.
The North Western River Basin District
The North Western river basin district covers the north west corner of the island of Ireland, but stretches across in a south easterly direction to a large extent also taking in much of the drumlin belt that stretches through many of the border counties - from south Donegal, through Leitrim, Fermanagh, Longford, Cavan, Monaghan, and onwards. Major rivers and lakes include the Erne system, which supports boating and leisure tourism as well as some hydroelectric power generation, to the River Finn and Foyle systems that drain much of the mountains of Donegal and the Sperrin mountains. Angling and sea fisheries are important aspects of the area, with the largest sea port in Ireland being at Killybegs on the Donegal coast. Water too continues to supports the large agricultural area across the District.
For further information visit the www.nwirbd.com
Water Quality and Agriculture
Loss of Phosphorus and Nitrogen from Agricultural Activities has been identified as a major contributing factor to the pollution of water bodies with these nutrients.
In 1996, a Code of Good Agricultural Practice to Protect Waters from Pollution by Nitrates (the "blue book") was issued jointly by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development and the Department of the Environment and Local Government. This book contains advice and recommendations for farmers as to -
- storage of organic fertilisers
- standards & specifications for construction of storage facilities
- when to apply organic and chemical fertilisers to land
- appropriate rates of application of fertilisers, and
- precautions to be taken to avoid causing water pollution.
Copies of this document are available from The Department of the Environment, and Donegal County Council Environment Section.
The following summary booklet is also available to download from the Department of Agriculture. : Good Farming Practice - Summary Booklet
Guidelines for Slurry/Fertiliser Spreading
Check the weather forecast before spreading. Do not apply organic or chemical fertilisers when heavy rain is forecast within the next 48 hours.
Avoid spreading organic or chemical fertiliser:
- on wet or waterlogged ground
- on frozen or snow-covered land
- on land sloping steeply towards rivers, streams, lakes and exposed bedrock
No Chemical Fertiliser should be applied within 1.5m of any watercourse.
Avoid polluting surface waters and wells by leaving a buffer strip between them and the land on which organic fertilisers are applied. The Table below sets out the general guidance on the widths that may be appropriate for buffer strips. It is essential that the recommended strip widths are observed in the case of domestic wells and public water supply sources. The width of the strip required to streams, lakes/drains and lake/main river channels will depend in each case on soil type, slop, and vegetative cover.
| Recommended Buffer Strips |
(Meters) |
| Streams and Drains |
10 |
| Lakes and Main River Channels |
20 |
| Domestic Wells |
50 |
| Public Water Supply Sources |
50-100 |
Further information on Agriculture in General can be obtained from the Department of Agriculture.
Nitrates Directive
This is the most recent piece of legislation dealing with nutrients in waters. It has been brought into Irish Legislation under S.I. No. 788 of 2005 European Communities (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations 2005.
The European Communities (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations 2005 were signed by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government on 11 December 2005. The Regulations generally came into effect on 1 February 2006 with specific provisions coming into effect on a phased basis up to 2008. Part 3 of the Regulations deals with nutrient management planning and is based on long-standing Teagasc advice. Teagasc has recently indicated that it may be possible to review part of this advice on the application of phosphorus in a way which could improve the effectiveness of the Regulations. The Government and the European Commission saw merit in allowing Teagasc to elaborate this new advice and, accordingly, the Minister has announced a brief de facto deferral of the implementation of Part 3 of the Regulations. Teagasc have been requested to provide, as a matter of urgency, the necessary scientific case to support any revision of the phosphorus tables in the Regulations. This Department and the Department of Agriculture and Food will carefully consider any submission received from Teagasc having regard to the fact that any proposals for revision of the phosphorus tables must respect the environmental requirements associated with the Nitrates Directive and will require the agreement of the Commission.
Dangerous Substances Regulations
The Dangerous Substances Regulations 2001, prescribe water quality standards in relation to certain substances in surface waters, e.g., rivers, lakes and tidal waters. The substances include certain pesticides (atrazine, simazine, tributyltin), solvents (dichloromethane, toluene, xylene), metals (arsenic, chromium, copper, lead, nickel, zinc) and certain other compounds (cyanide and fluoride). The Regulations give further effect to the EU Dangerous Substances Directive (76/464/EC) and give effect to certain provisions of the EU Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC).
Donegal County Council prepared a Dangerous Substances Measures Report in 2002 in line with the regulations. This report outlines with regard to County Donegal; the water quality targets to be achieved; an analysis of potential pressures; and a programme of measures to achieve the water quality standards required in the Regulations.
Under the Water Framework Directive River Basin Districts Project a nationwide study of dangerous substances in waters has been undertaken and the outcome of the study will be part of River Basin Management Plans.