Up to 42pc of Irish water bodies set to fall short of critical 2027 EU target
Up to 42pc of Irish water bodies are currently set to fall short of the EU’s Water Framework Directive (WFD), which requires Member States to achieve good status in all bodies of surface water and groundwater by 2027.
These water bodies will require additional targeted actions as part of the unpublished River Basin Management Plan 2023-2027, according to documents seen by the Farming Independent.
In a presentation to the Water Policy Advisory Committee last November, Department of Housing Water Advisory Unit officials warned that some water bodies will require an extension beyond 2027 due to the impact of natural conditions on the rate of recovery.
Officials said that other water bodies “will require a phased recovery over a more sustainable time-frame of one or more river basin management cycles beyond 2027 because it would be technically infeasible and/or disproportionately expensive to achieve any sooner.”
River Basin Management Plans run in six-year cycles, meaning that officials are worried that some rivers may only reach the 2027 target closer to 2040.
It is anticipated that the 2023-27 plan will be published in the first quarter of 2024 following Ministerial and Government approval.
In a submission to the Department of Housing, the Water Forum has questioned the scientific basis which the Water Advisory Unit suggests that an additional 200-400 water bodies will meet the WFD targets by 2027.
Sectoral Action Plans are set to be created under the River Basin Management Plan, with 1,000 water bodies currently at risk from agriculture.
The Water Forum also recommends that these Sectoral Action Plans should be legally binding.
“Each plan should include information on how the sector will address all water bodies at risk from that pressure with a plan to develop evidence-based targeted restoration measures,” officials said in their submission.
“The plan should also identify protection measures to ensure no additional water bodies are put at risk from that sector.”
The draft plan suggests that agriculture is in line for “a rapid graduated reduction of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment losses to water bodies with a target to reach sustainable use and discharges in all catchments of concern by 2027.”