A visitor from England at Lough Owel in Mullingar expressed surprise to me recently that locals were swimming in the lake. She could not understand how they would take such a risk. I assured her they had no reason to worry; the most recent rating for Lough Owel from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classed its water quality as excellent.
It is also gratifying to be able to tell visitors that 96 per cent of beaches across this country are deemed to be of “sufficient” quality to swim at, while there are 89 Blue Flag Irish beaches. England only has 76 Blue Flag beaches. As for rivers, the English have become accustomed to seeing them as a filthy threat.
It is a theme elaborated on by celebrated nature writer Robert Macfarlane in his recent book Is a River Alive?. It documents a “gradual, desperate calamity” that has afflicted English rivers; such has been the extent that a younger generation have no experience of what clean rivers are.
Macfarlane wrote in April that he “recently saw a Southern Water riverbank sign badged with a bright blue logo that read ‘Water for Life’. The sign instructed passersby to ‘avoid contact with the water. If you have had contact with the water, please wash your hands before eating’. In parts of this septic isle, fresh water has become first undrinkable, then unswimmable, then untouchable.” Privatisation, lack of regulation and poor monitoring have all contributed to the sorry plight of the rivers as they are polluted with nitrates, chemicals and waste.
Macfarlane’s focus on the rivers is not all bleak. “Rivers are easily wounded. But given a chance, they heal themselves with remarkable speed. Their life pours back.”
Veteran ocean chronicler David Attenborough has enunciated a similar message despite the gravity of what he has uncovered: “We know already that the ocean can recover.” Restoration, he suggests, can be achieved by applying advances in scientific knowledge, while Macfarlane points to legislative initiatives in Ecuador and New Zealand to protect water. He highlights the importance, in England, of increasingly vocal “citizen science and community groups” demanding action to prevent rivers being primarily seen as drains, channels or dumps.
Ireland, Macfarlane has suggested, is “to the forefront” of raising consciousness of these issues
Macfarlane spoke about his river odysseys on RTÉ radio recently, noting that in England “we have not a single river in good overall health” according to environment agency standards. The situation is not as dire in Ireland, but it is striking how quickly overall Irish river quality has declined in recent decades. According to the EPA’s report Water Quality in Ireland 2016-2021, “half of our rivers and two-thirds of our estuaries are not in good ecological health”. Only about 20 Irish rivers are in “pristine condition” now, compared to 500 in the 1980s.
Ireland, Macfarlane has suggested, is “to the forefront” of raising consciousness of these issues because of the Citizens’ Assembly on biodiversity loss chaired by Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin. The first assembly of its kind anywhere in the world, it recommended a referendum to amend the Constitution in order to protect biodiversity.
Dr Bernadette White, from the Local Authority Waters Programme, told the assembly members that “the majority of our high-status waters are not in good condition” and highlighted that 43 per cent of rivers have high nitrates. It was also noted that 92 per cent of problems relating to water quality are due to agriculture.
It is a theme sprinkled on the current programme for government, with references to public bodies being required to integrate biodiversity “into their plans and policies” and the need to “commit to clear targets within the National Biodiversity Action Plan”.
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That plan, covering the years 2023 to 2030, declares a target: “By 2030, 300km of rivers are restored to a free-flowing state.” But in relation to “action”, it more underwhelmingly states: “Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Inland Fisheries Ireland, Office of Public Works and other relevant bodies will explore the restoration of 300km or rivers to a free-flowing state”.
There is little indication that a referendum on biodiversity is a political priority for the Government. This is a pity, because a referendum would allow for sustained attention on this pivotal question and a focus on remedies as well as failings and the important work of the Rivers Trust, established in 1994.
The assembly’s report was clear about the State’s failure to properly fund, implement and enforce existing policies, despite the declaration of a biodiversity crisis in the Dáil in 2019. Taking that further can also involve positivity about the future; as pointed out by Ní Shúilleabháin, a key message underpinning the work of the assembly was that “we should be good ancestors in considering those coming after us”.
