1) The document discusses the status of surface water and groundwater in Ireland according to the Water Framework Directive. It provides interim status assessments showing the percentage of water bodies with high, good, moderate, poor, or bad ecological status.
2) Wastewater treatment plants, agriculture, forestry, and urban areas are cited as the main causes of surface water bodies having "less than good" status. For groundwater, agriculture is contributing to poor chemical status in many areas.
3) Key issues discussed include nitrogen and phosphates in water impacting seaweed blooms, groundwater as both an input to and pathway for surface waters, and groundwater-dependent ecosystems.
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1. Surface Water and Groundwater
Status
Donal Daly
Hydrometric & Groundwater Section
Environmental Protection Agency
Acknowledgement: Colleagues in EPA and on WFD Groundwater Working Group
2. Water Freamework Directive
Water Status
“A measure of the present”
Status is the key element determining
the measures to be employed in the
Reliability Based Decoding Management
Plans to achieve the objectives of the
Water Framework Directive
Based on an evaluation of:
pressures, physical settings and
monitoring results
4. Interim Status Assessment of
Rivers
River Qualit y – WFD I nt erim St at us
Ecological Class
Hi g h
Good
Moderat e
Poor
Bad
Num ber of Wat er Bodies
(9%)
738 (40%)
509 (28%)
389 (21%)
41 (2%)
173
5. Interim Status Assessment
of Lakes
Lak e Qualit y – WFD I nt erim St at us
Biological Class
Hi g h
Good
Moder at e
Poor
Bad
Num ber of Lak es
( 2 8 .0 % )
75 ( 27.7% )
94 ( 34.7% )
17 ( 6.3% )
9 ( 3.3% )
76
Surf ace Ar ea ( k m 2 )
3 7 .1 % )
204.4 ( 20.5% )
397.9 ( 40% )
7.1 ( 0.7% )
16.5 ( 1.7% )
369.6 (
6. Main Causes of “less than good”
Status Surface Water Bodies
Discharges from Wastewater Treatment
Plants (nutrients)
Diffuse Agriculture (resulting in inputs
of Phosphorus and N)
Forestry (sediment and Phosphorus)
Urban areas
8. Groundwater Status
Groundwater Directive
The overall aim of the WFD is to achieve
“Good Status” for all GWBs by 2015
Status
Scale: Status assesses Average GWB
Conditions
Local issues are managed under site
specific “Prevent or Limit” legislation, but
they may still impact on status
9. GWB Results:
Quantitative Status
4 GWBs at Poor Status
2 due to
unsustainable longterm abstraction
2 due to abstractions
impacting on the
supporting water
level/flow conditions
of wetlands
10. GWB Results:
Chemical Status
111 GWBs at POOR STATUS
Relates to 14% of RoIs area
Main Drivers:
MRP contributing to SW
Eutrophication (101 GWBs)
Metals from Historic
Mining Activities (5 GWBs)
Contaminated land / Urban
(2 GWBs)
Diffuse NO3 (2 GWBs)
11. Issues Arising (Selected)
1) Nitrogen & trac waters and sea lettuce
2) Groundwater as an input and a pathway to
surface water
3) Groundwater Dependent Terrestrial
Ecosystems
4) Phosphate in groundwater impacting on surface
water ecosystems
5) Groundwater Threshold Values
6) High status sites
7) Nitrate Trends
12. Who undertakes water
body classification?
Environment Protection Agency
undertakes and is responsible for this
work
Small Stream Risk Score method not
used for status; but part of investigative
monitoring
16. Nitrogen, TRAC Waters
and Sea Lettuce
16% of TRAC waters are eutrophic or potentially eutrophic.
Why? Due to the presence of nutrients, mainly Nitrogen &
Phosphorus.
Coastal waters (median) for N = 2.6 mg/l (or 12 mg/L) at fresh
water interface
Main Nitrogen Sources
diffuse agriculture
Short–term Implications:
A potential health hazard
An expensive and difficult collection & disposal issue
Medium to long–term Implications:
Investment in upgrading needed
Reduction in nitrate loss to groundwater
Lag time for reduction???
17. No longer sufficient to ‘see’
groundwater largely in terms of wells
Springs
Wells
20. Groundwater as a contributor to
groundwater dependent ecosystems
(GWDTEs)
Pollardstown Fen - a GWDTE
21. Surface of Groundwater
Progress
Very little
Environmental Supporting Conditions not
known:
Nitrogen & Phosphorus environmental quality
standards needed
groundwater level and flow conditions
22. Phosphate in GW:
Discussion
Rivers in blue are ‘less
than good’ status
mainly due to diffuse
pressures
PO4 in groundwater the
main cause in red
areas.
Specific measures to
reduce PO4 “leakage” to
GW may be needed
Will existing measures
23. Groundwater Threshold
Values (TVs)
TVs are in the Groundwater Regulations and have
been reported to the world
TVs are mean concentrations
TVs are not Emission Limit Values
TVs are trigger values that prompt further
investigation: not the boundary between GOOD and
POOR status
Parameter Threshold Value
Test
Reason for TV
must NO
Nitrate TVs 37.5 mg/lbe 3 appropriate to the receptor, e.g.
Drinking Water/General GWQ Protect Human Use
Human
TCE/PCE s 7.5 ug/l use (drinking water)
General GWQ
Surface
Chloride s 24 mg/l Cl water Saline Intrusion
s Wetlands
Conductivity 800 uS/cm
Saline Intrusion
MRP
35 ug/l P
Surface Water Quality
Ammonium 65 ug/l N
Surface Water Quality
Protect Human Use-Point Source
Upper Limit of NBL
Upper Limit of NBL
SW EQS
SW EQS
24. High Status Surface
Water Bodies
9% of rivers and 28% of lakes.
Number of high quality river sites halved in last 20
years.
High status Water Bodies are critical to species
biodiversity
Deterioration to ‘good’ not allowed, therefore
measures to prevent this of critical importance and a
high priority
Sensitive to pressures (forestry, farming, peat
extraction, rural housing) so ‘low level’ activities may
cause the deterioration
Additional measures to protect these areas likely to
be needed
32. Nitrate Trends in Rivers
NO3 concentrations are stable
43% of all (surveillance + operational)
stations had concentrations <10mg/l,
with 21% >25 mg/l
Over 70% of surveillance stations had
concentrations<10mg/l NO3, with 3%
>25mg/l
But more time and data needed to test
for statistical significance.
Here’s a spring in leitrim, which has a great supply. Groundwater is flowing from a pure bedded limestone – see the bedding planes – and utilising the bedding planes to flow along.
Unfortunately, this spring was polluted by nearby farming activities, so it is no longer used.