Water quality in Ireland is not as good as it should be and is continuing to decline overall, an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report has found.

The EPA published its water quality in Ireland report for 2019 to 2024 on Tuesday 14 October, which provides the latest three-yearly

assessment of water quality.

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The report shows that 52% of rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters are in a satisfactory ecological condition, which means in good or high ecological status.

This is a decline since the 2016 to 2021 assessment, when 54% of surface waters were satisfactory.

Transitional waters, including estuaries and coastal lagoons, are in the poorest condition of any water body type, with 70% in an unsatisfactory condition, up from 64% in the last assessment.

Meanwhile, 92% of ground waters are in good status according to the report and canals are also in relatively good condition, with 87% achieving their water quality targets.

Nutrients

However, there have been improvements in phosphorus levels in surface waters in areas prioritised for action and reductions in nitrogen levels in many river monitoring sites in recent years, according to the EPA.

The main pressures affecting water quality are excess nutrients coming mainly from agriculture, urban wastewater discharges and damage to the physical condition of water habitats from activities such as land and river drainage, forestry and urban development, the EPA has said.

Commenting on the report, director of the EPA’s office of evidence and assessment Dr Eimear Cotter said: "Our rivers, lakes and estuaries are the lifeblood of our landscape and support our ecosystems and our health and wellbeing. But they are struggling.

Resilience

"They do not have the resilience to cope with the challenges they face, now and in the future. Surface water quality overall has been in decline since before the first of these assessments was carried out by the EPA in the late 2000s.

"It is very disappointing to report that water quality is not improving, despite the many actions that are under way across all sectors. It’s clear the scale and pace of implementation needs to be increased and sustained," Cotter said.

EPA programme manager Dr Jenny Deakin added that the decreases in phosphorus levels in areas prioritised for action are very welcome.

Further reductions will be needed, as well as a reduction in nitrate levels, she said.

"This report shines a light on the progress that can be made when actions are targeted. It is essential that better information is collected by all stakeholders, on when and where the actions are being implemented on the ground, to provide better information on how the

progress can be accelerated," Deakin said.