asked the Minister for the Environment the monitoring of water quality which is carried out (a) in the Dublin area, (b) elsewhere in the country; when and where the results are published; if there has been a change in the practice of publishing raw data; and if he will make a statement on present water quality standards.
Written Answers. - Water Quality Monitoring.
176.
Water quality monitoring is carried out on an extensive scale by local authorities in the Dublin area and in the rest of the country as a normal part of their statutory water pollution control functions and publication of results is a matter for local authorities. In addition An Foras Forbartha has an ongoing programme of biological water quality monitoring and publishes overall reviews of national water quality, including data obtained from local authorities' monitoring programmes. The most recent review, published in July of this year, contains and analyses data for the years 1982-1986.
The only change of significance in the practice of publishing raw data of which I am aware has been the inclusion by An Foras Forbartha for the first time of physico-chemical data supplied by local authorities in the most recent review of national water quality. This allows for a more comprehensive assessment of water quality.
Among the many encouraging findings in the review is the fact that of the rivers surveyed in 1971 and found to be seriously polluted, the percentage now seriously polluted is less than half what it was at that time. Encouraging too is the generally unpolluted state of the lakes in the country as well as the high quality of estuarine and coastal waters. There has been a decline, however, in the percentage of river channel length found to be in the unpolluted category (74 per cent for the period 1982-1986 compared with 84 per cent for the period 1979-1981) and a corresponding increase (from 14 per cent to 24 per cent) in the length of channel subject to slight or moderate pollution. In spite of this the percentage of river channel length found to be unpolluted is among the highest in Europe. Each local authority has recently been asked to consider the An Foras Forbartha report in the context of its own area and, within a standardised report and questionnaire format devised by my Department, to assess and comment on the findings and to outline the steps it intends to take in relation to polluted waters.
The large numbers of pollution incidents this summer have been noted with the gravest concern and the Government have approved a comprehensive package of measures to tackle the problem. This package, which includes the strengthening of the Local Government (Water Pollution) Act, 1977, the carrying out of surveys of farms by local authority, fishery board and farm advisory personnel and increased attention to educational and awareness aspects, is expected to result in a significant improvement in the nation's water quality.