The River Shannon catchment is under severe environmental pressure from sewage discharges, agricultural run-off and industrial effluents, according to the latest official report. The findings of the Lough Derg/Lough Ree Catchment Monitoring and Management Committee - representing nine county councils along the length of Ireland's largest inland waterway - could not have come as a surprise to the Government. For years, successive administrations have been warned of the dire consequences of inaction. And, to be fair, large-scale investments are being undertaken in terms of urban sewage treatment and a reduction in industrial effluent. But pollution from agricultural sources, through phosphate and nitrate enrichment and slurry spills, has grown worse in tandem with the move to intensive farming practices.
Algal blooms are now as prevalent within the Shannon system as on the River Lee in Cork or in the Lakes of Killarney. And the blight is spreading rapidly. The great limestone lakes of the West - Corrib and Mask - are heavily enriched; Cullen is a green disaster; the arctic char have been wiped out in Conn and Lough Gill has suffered badly. Last summer, having been cited for failure to obey EU directives on water quality before the European Court of Justice, the Government promised to mend its ways. It produced nutrient management guidelines for local authorities and announced they would have responsibility for monitoring and enforcing water quality. But it made no provision for extra funding; promised no new professional expertise and granted an escape clause to polluters where compliance with standards would be impractical or too costly.
The Government's proposals have been condemned as inadequate in a submission to the European Commission by the Carra/Mask Angling Federation. The absence of a fully-integrated approach to the management of river catchments; inadequate base line information; unworkable penalties and a failure to respond to phosphate enrichment from farm sources were the main complaints. The organisation urged the Commission to maintain pressure on the Government to introduce binding water quality objectives, particularly in relation to phosphate enrichment.
The over-use of artificial fertilisers on farms, particularly phosphates, has been identified as a major cause of water pollution. In the River Lee catchment area, farmers have used 150 per cent more phosphates than they require in an attempt to maximise grass growth. The Shannon survey found almost half of the land in the Nenagh area to be excessively enriched. And two-thirds of farms had inadequate storage facilities for slurry.
Given the depressed state of agriculture, it is highly unlikely the Government will antagonise farmers by imposing a tax on artificial fertilisers. But it could take the advice of the Economic and Social Research Institute and introduce a farm nutrient management scheme. This would involve charging VAT on fertilisers, but allowing farmers to reclaim it if they showed their lands were not excessively fertilised. On the other side of the coin, the Government should introduce a tax on detergents containing phosphates in the Budget in order to encourage householders and businesses to switch to less polluting washing products. At this stage, nothing short of radical Government measures will save our waterways.