A new approach to improving Ireland's water quality is set to be rolled out across the State. The Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (SSAP) is an innovative collaboration between Teagasc, the dairy co-ops, the government, and local authorities and is aimed at promoting and encouraging sustainable farming while meeting stringent water quality requirements.
The programme is part of the River Basin Management Plan for 2018-2021 which has identified the measures Ireland will need to put in place to protect and improve water quality. The most recent water quality report published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2017 shows that only 57 per cent of rivers, 46 per cent of lakes, 31 per cent of estuarine, and 79 per cent of coastal waters are meeting the requirements of the Water Framework Directive.
On a more positive note, 91 per cent of groundwater bodies meet the required water quality standards for groundwater.
The Water Framework Directive requires that all water bodies, with some exceptions, must be restored to good status by 2027 at the latest.
"The pressure is on Ireland to improve," says Tegasc business and technology advisor and SSAP programme manager, Noel Meehan. "There are different causes of the problem, they can be septic tanks, industry, forestry, or agriculture. The one we are focused on is agriculture."
Following years of little or no progress it has been decided to take a new approach. In the past, regulation followed by inspection and penalties for breaches was utilised to little effect. “It was decided that after several years of no improvement we had to do something different,” says Meehan. “In some ways this involved a leap of faith. Instead of reacting to complaints or pollution incidents we are going to go in and use science and expertise to support farmers to implement changes which will result in improved water quality.”
This proactive approach will see teams of scientists from the Local Authority Water Sustainability Advisory Team (LAWSAT) carry out assessments and tests on 192 different water catchments around the country which have been selected as those under most pressure.
We hope to give farmers more bang for their buck while achieving water quality benefits at the same time
“It’s very targeted,” Meehan points out. “The science team will go into the catchments and walk the rivers. They will start off at the head and walk back up, sampling and testing and assessing all the way back up to the source and following tributaries along the way. They will find the parts of the catchment with a problem and identify the source of the problem. If the problem is agriculture, the farmers in the catchments will be visited by advisors who will assist them to make the changes which will help improve the water quality.”
Free service
The advisors are part of a dedicated 30-strong team which is jointly funded by government and industry, with 20 people coming from Teagasc and 10 from the dairy co-ops.
“We are offering a free service to help look at ways of facilitating improved water quality, hand-in-hand with increased farm productivity,” says Meehan. “This sustainability and efficiency will be achieved through improved nutrient management with more targeted use of fertiliser, better farmyard practice, more widespread use of sustainable approaches developed by Teagasc and the development of new approaches in critical source areas.”
The science teams will start work on the ground in October and it is anticipated that the advisors will make their first farm visits in November. This will be preceded by a communications campaign. “A communications effort will be required beforehand. We will hold community meetings and so on to explain what it’s about, why we are there, what we are trying to achieve. We don’t want to arrive in an area with people not knowing we are coming.”
He believes the prospects for success are good. “I think it will work well. When you look at nutrient management there is usually room for improvement. The farmer may be putting out fertiliser when lime is needed. They may be putting slurry in the wrong field. From that point of view nutrient management is a win win. We hope to give farmers more bang for their buck while achieving water quality benefits at the same time. And we won’t be looking for dramatic changes in the vast majority of cases. We are aiming at a situation where we give farmers advice or assistance which will cost them little or nothing to implement but will save them money, improve productivity and yields, and enhance water quality in the long run. Everyone comes out a winner in all of this. It’s a win win across the board.”
“My gut feeling is that it will work,” he says. “We know we have to get it right. We have got great buy-in from the farming organisations and the co-ops and I think we will get good buy-in from farmers as well. We have a very good model and it should work.”
