Vol. 473 No. 4
25 Miss Quill asked the Minister for the Environment if he is in receipt of a recent report by a leading environmental scientist which states the water quality in Lough Corrib is under severe threat from agricultural and sewage pollution; and the action, if any, he will take on foot of the findings of this report. [1502/97]
Lough Corrib and River Corrib are designated salmonid waters and, accordingly, subject to the monitoring and pollution control requirements of the European Communities (Quality of Salmonid Waters) Regulations, 1988 which give effect to Directive 78/659/EEC.
Responsibility for water quality in Lough Corrib and implementation of appropriate measures to deal with pollution are primarily for the relevant local authority, Galway County Council, and the Environmental Protection Agency in so far as activities licensable by the agency may be involved. Extensive statutory powers are available under the Water Pollution Acts, 1977 and 1990, and the Environmental Protection Act, 1992 to support these bodies in their respective roles.
The recent Environmental Protection Agency report, Water Quality in Ireland 1991-94, indicates that an assessment of water quality in Lough Corrib, based mainly on mid-lake investigations carried out by the Central Fisheries Board, confirmed a continuing trophic status for the lake, compatible with a low probability of pollution or impairment of beneficial uses. A slight reduction in planktonic algal growth was also recorded, a positive development in relation to water quality.
I am also aware of the recent report Lough Corrib — Cause for Concern, and welcome it as a further addition to the body of research available on the lake. The report, however, is affected by limitations in regard to sampling sites and sampling periods. These limitations necessarily affect the usefulness of the data and give rise to difficulties with interpretation. The absence of hydraulic measurements enabling the report to quantify nutrient loads by source, river input or sector compounds these difficulties. The report does, however, highlight the inadequacies of relying exclusively on mid-lake sampling points and the strong case for conducting a comprehensive assessment of the littoral zone of this important lake system.
A number of initiatives addressing these concerns in relation to the lake water quality assessment and the threat from agricultural sources of pollution, as highlighted in the report, are under way. Projects commissioned by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Operational Programme for Environmental Services include an investigation headed by the Zoology Department of UCG of eutrophication processes in the littoral zones of western lakes, including Lough Corrib. The project involves a detailed study of how lakes respond to nutrients, especially phosphorus inputs into the littoral areas. One of its main aims is to develop an early warning system which will be capable of detecting subtle, adverse changes in the littoral areas of the lakes. The projects also include a study by Teagasc-TCD on agricultural soil phosphorus (P) losses to water in Irish catchments. The aim is to develop a model which will predict soil P losses given soil type, soil P level and precipitation amounts so as to facilitate decisions as to whether pollution control resources should be concentrated on control of soil phosphorus levels or control of point source farmyard pollution.
These studies form part only of the Environmental Protection Agency's ongoing research and monitoring programme for western lakes and water quality generally and the findings will be of benefit to local authorities and the agency in the performance of their water pollution control and management functions.
A range of actions are being pursued for the improved management and-or reduction of nutrients, including phosphorus, with a view to tackling the problem of lake eutrophication. These actions include: promotion of the code of good agricultural practice to protect waters from pollution which I launched jointly with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry in July 1996; the amendment, in the Waste Management Act, 1996 of the Water Pollution (Amendment) Act, 1990, with which the Deputy will be familiar, allowing local authorities to require farmers to prepare nutrient management plans so as to achieve the correct balance between water quality protection and nutrient requirements for crop production taking account of recommended application rates and nutrients already available in the soil; the launch on 13 December 1996 of revised Teagasc recommended application rates for phosphorus fertilisers for grassland; the extension since 3 September 1996 of the integrated pollution control licensing system under the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992 to new intensive agricultural activities in the pig and poultry sectors; the imposition by local authorities and the Environmental Protection Agency of controls, as appropriate, in respect of phosphorus discharges from industrial activities through the exercise of their statutory licensing control functions; the ongoing implementation by my Department, in conjunction with local authorities, of the major programme of capital investment, entailing estimated expenditure of £1.3 billion by 2005, on upgrading sewage treatment facilities to meet the requirements of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive; the rural environmental protection scheme and the control of farmyard pollution scheme operated by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry are specifically geared to the adoption of environmentally friendly farm practices and provide grant assistance for necessary investment to support such practices; under Partnership 2000 provision will be made by way of improved capital allowances for a targeted and monitored measure to support investment by farmers in necessary pollution control measures.
To provide better co-ordination for the above actions and to intensify efforts at protecting the vulnerable water quality of lakes my Department is finalising a lake catchment management strategy. This will aim to encourage an integrated approach to catchment management, based on the co-operation of all economic and other interests involved.
I regret the Minister's answer meandered over every waterway in Ireland except Lough Corrib——
That is not true.
——which was the specific point of the question and which was the subject of the report to which my question referred. Will the Minister concede that the O'Sullivan report is the most comprehensive study ever carried out on the waters of Lough Corrib? Does he accept the report's conclusions on the quality of the water of Lough Corrib? Is he satisfied that the Environmental Protection Agency has fulfilled its responsibilities in monitoring pollution in Lough Corrib?
I cannot accept the Deputy's first contention. My comprehensive reply focused specifically on the western lakes and Lough Corrib in particular.
We know about the other lakes.
One of the problems with the report is that the samplings were only from the littoral zones or the edges of the lake.
That is not true.
I can only read the report and the sampling measures.
Did the Minister read this report?
I did. As a result, the data is not as comprehensive as it might be. However, there are good points in the report. It points out that some of the monitoring carried out by the Environmental Protection Agency, which concentrates on mid-lake samplings, is not sufficiently fine tuned to pick up mild contamination of the littoral areas. The agency is changing its methodology to ensure there is a comprehensive monitoring system.
I have given a comprehensive list of the range of activities undertaken by my Department and the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry to ensure that increases in mild pollution in waterways will be detected by the Environmental Protection Agency. The most recently published report on Lough Corrib, that for 1991-94, shows a slight improvement and not a slight deterioration. However, we will not become complacent. We want to ensure that the REPS, the investment programme in the control of farmyard pollution and the investment programme in sewerage schemes, for which I am responsible, will in a co-ordinated manner stop the eutrification of our lakes. That will be my priority.
I am not convinced the Minister has read the O'Sullivan report in detail. With regard to the location of the dump in Curragh Line, County Galway, is he concerned about the report's remarks on the location of that dump? If so, what discussions has he had with the municipal authorities in that area? What discussions has he had with the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and Teagasc about the efforts that must be made to reduce the amount of agricultural waste seeping into Lough Corrib in greater amounts each year?
With regard to the location of landfill, the Deputy will be aware, following 18 months of debate on the Waste Management Act, that stringent environmental standards are being put in place with regard to the future management and operation of landfill sites. The Environmental Protection Agency has been given the responsibility of implementing the legislation and will ensure that landfill sites will be carefully monitored and not have an effect on ground waters. The Deputy will remember the lengthy debates we had on that issue when discussing the Act.
In addition, I took the opportunity when drafting the Waste Management Bill to amend previous legislation to enable local authorities to require a nutrient plan to be established for farmers who might potentially impact on water systems such as Lough Corrib. Galway County Council can require a farmer who might have a potential impact on those waters to produce a nutrient plan which the council can monitor to ensure there will not be inappropriate or overextensive applications of nutrients to land. I have worked closely with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry to dovetail our Departments' schemes in this regard. We took that initiative last year to ensure the two Departments focus in a co-ordinated way on the western lakes. The benefits of that are already visible.
Has the Minister requested the Environmental Protection Agency to intensify its monitoring procedures in respect of Lough Corrib? Is the Minister prepared to furnish the House with a report which will demonstrate that an improvement will be effected as a result of the worthwhile study on Lough Corrib carried out by this environmentalist at the request of the Federation of Anglers?
I welcome the report. Any additional information we receive on vulnerable ecosystems such as those in the western lakes is most important. We will take careful cognisance of the report and I will require the Environmental Protection Agency to do likewise. We will possibly make changes in the analysis systems to ensure the shoreline areas are more extensively monitored in addition to relying on mid-lake samplings which, by definition, will be purer than those from the lake's edges. Much good can come from this report.
As soon as the catchment strategy is finalised by my Department, it will be published and will no doubt be the subject of debate and questions in the House. We all have the same objective of ensuring that the high quality of the watercourses of this country is not only maintained but improved in the future.
