Just half of waters in Ireland are in a satisfactory condition.
The water quality of Donegal’s rivers is good or moderate. However, the catchment of Donagh-Moville recording one of the lowest percentage of satisfactory river water bodies in the country.
In terms of coastal waters, Killybegs failed the environmental quality standard.
Lough Swilly was found to have poor water quality.
The latest report from the EPA also highlighted concerns in Donegal that pesticides could be having an impact on water quality.
Concerns about the general decline in water quality and the overall ecological condition of some rivers in Donegal highlighted a need to increase the number of chemical monitoring stations in the region.
Some of the biological assessments indicated moderate or poor to bad quality conditions.
A toxic chemical effect was suspected in some cases as the number of macroinvertebrate species was so low.
The EPA says with Donegal having the largest population of sheep in the country, and forestry covering 11% of the land area it is suspected a possible cause for the decline in the river macroinvertebrates could be from pesticides from sheep dipping or forestry activity.
Widespread detection of cypermethrin was observed, particularly in southwest and north Donegal.
The EPA has recommended a a national cross-agency forum be set up to focus on the appropriate
management of spent sheep dip to prevent environmental pollution.
You can read the full report here
Wayne Trodd, Scientific Officer with the Environmental Protection Agency says while issues have been discovered, it doesn’t pose a risk to people:
