Catchment News

Water quality monitoring report on nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations in Irish waters 2022

This report provides an update on the results of water quality monitoring to support the assessment of the impact of the nitrate’s derogation on Irish waters, as required under Regulation 37 of the European Union (Good Agricultural Practices for the Protection of Waters) (Amendment) Regulations.

The EPA has carried out the interim review of water quality as specified by the Commission as a condition of Ireland’s derogation under the Nitrates Directive. Annex 1 of this report provides an additional water quality assessment, based on the assessment criteria prescribed by the European Commission in Article 12 of Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/696.

Report and supporting information

You can download the Water quality monitoring report on nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations in Irish waters 2022 report from the EPA website.

An additional document Supporting information for the interim water quality review as required as a condition of Ireland’s derogation under the Nitrates Directive – Technical Document is also available. 

Frequently asked questions

Answers to frequently asked questions on the EPA’s assessment of water quality and agriculture have been published.

Data and downloads

The results and data from the interim water quality assessment are available for download from: https://gis.epa.ie/GetData/Download. On the menu on the left, click on “Water/ Water Framework Directive“, scroll down to “Nitrates Directive Information” and select the Excel (for results and data) or the Shapefile (for the GIS mapping data).

A screenshot of the EPA data downloads section showing how to find these files

Who is involved?

Quite simply, everyone in Ireland has a role to play. This can be from something as simple as making sure you don’t pollute your local stream, or a local community working together to establish a Rivers Trust to enhance the rivers and lakes in their area, to a Government Department or Agency helping a Minister implement a new policy to help protect and enhance all our water bodies.

This website has been developed and is maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency, and is a collaboration between the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Local Authority Waters Programme.

LAWCO

Local Authority Waters Programme

The Local Authority Waters Programme coordinates the efforts of local authorities and other public bodies in the implementation of the River Basin Management Plan, and supports local community and stakeholder involvement in managing our natural waters, for everyone’s benefit.

EPA

Environmental Protection Agency

The EPA is responsible for coordinating the monitoring, assessment and reporting on the status of our 4,842 water bodies, looking at trends and changes, determining which waterbodies are at risk and what could be causing this, and drafting environmental objectives for each.

DECLG

Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The Department is responsible for making sure that the right policies, regulations and resources are in place to implement the Water Framework Directive, and developing a River Basin Management Plan and Programme of Measures to protect and restore our waters.