Here’s what’s happening with nitrates in Ireland and what you can do to help stop this pollutant.
Nearly half (44%) of our rivers have nitrate concentrations that are too high.
The biggest cause is agriculture run-off, mainly from the dairy industry through cow urine, chemical fertiliser and slurry. Nitrogen from these sources drain into our rivers, lakes and our estuaries, making them sick.
Between 2013 to 2023, there’s been a 42% increase in dairy cows.
The EU requires states to reduce the harm from nitrates with a Nitrates Action Programme. It also imposes limits on how much can be spread per hectare of land.
Member states can also apply for a Nitrates Derogation using the plan that gives them permission to exceed the required limits. However, only if water quality doesn’t suffer as a result.
Ireland has had a Nitrates Derogation since 2006. In this time, water quality has declined more and more, with agricultural nitrates pollution being a major contributor to unhealthy waters.
Yet, Ireland is applying again for a derogation extension (one of only two member states to do so) and the European Commission is proposing to extend the derogation again.
The Irish government wants this derogation to allow dairy farms to continue intensifying production. But it’s a decision that puts economic interests ahead of what science is telling us. It’s unfair for farmers to be asked to sustain the unsustainable and be left unsure about their future.
The EPA’s reports show that the health of our waterways is getting worse. And we can’t build resilient water ecosystems with the ongoing high levels of nitrate pollution.
An EU commitee will decide whether to grant Ireland the Nitrates Derogation in the next few weeks based on what is in Ireland’s plan – the Nitrates Action Programme.
However, the plan is full of weak measures that won’t work to stop pollution from derogation farms and bring our sick rivers, lakes, coasts and estuaries back to good health.
Before the committee considers the Nitrates Action Programme you can have your say by submitting to the consultation on it.
You can let them know that the programme lacks the right effective measures to stop agricultural nitrates from making our waters unhealthy.
Measures like:
- Setting legally enforceable caps on nutrients in the highest-risk farming areas.
- Requiring every farm in a catchment that is over its nutrient limit to have a compulsory plan to cut nutrient losses.
- Track all nutrient inputs and losses with data systems and maps in a transparent way so progress and compliance can be checked.