One of Kerry's oldest and most respected environmental groups has written an open letter to each of the 27 members of Kerry County Council expressing concern about the condition of Lough Guitane, the county's most important public water source.
The Killarney Nature Conservation Group has asked councillors to implement the Draft Water Pollution (Agricultural) By-laws, as recommended by the Lough Leane catchment management group, to protect the source that supplies over half the county's water.
The group is mainly concerned about development along the lake shore, the falling of dead animals into the lake, slurry and algal blooms. Included with the letter is a photograph of the warning signs which are put up around Lough Leane, lower down the Killarney valley, when potentially highly toxic algal blooms occur.
Ms Rose Barnes, secretary of the group, said the by-laws needed to be implemented "quickly, decisively and impartially" to safeguard the water supply. There was a need to fence off the lake to prevent dead animals from falling in.
Algal blooms have been appearing more frequently on Lough Guitane, a senior chemist in Kerry County Council's environment department confirmed some weeks ago.
The by-laws propose strict restrictions on the spread of animal slurries and chemical fertilisers, along with a ban on one-off housing by the shores of the lake. The council's strategic policy committee considered the by-laws too anti-farmer and too costly on individual farmers.
The chairman of this committee, Mayor of Kerry Mr Michael Healy-Rae, said: "While I am extremely concerned to protect the water supply, I am also extremely concerned about the farmers."