River Monitoring | Verde - Complete Environmental Solutions

Agriculture regulations are “clearly not functioning” to protect water quality

The recent swimming bans in County Clare indicate that the agriculture regulations to prevent water pollution are “clearly not functioning,” according to An Taisce. The ban in waters in north and west Clare due to increased bacterial levels is the second of its kind implemented in a fortnight and comes on the heels of heavy rainfall in the area. The increase in rainfall has caused runoff from ...
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Source to Tap – emerging evidence of the scale of the MCPA pesticide problem in cross-border Irish catchments

Source to Tap are monitoring water quality in the River Derg to gauge the impact of grants given to farmers to help them act to reduce the level of pesticides in drinking water. This monitoring will help establish if the financial incentives for farmers provides a more cost-effective way of reducing pesticide concentrations in drinking water than treatment at the works does. Ensuring the health o...
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If Rivers Could Talk

Water is often undervalued by civil society, yet our very existence is dependent on a continuous supply of fresh water. Human activities linked to population growth, food production, industrialisation and land use changes have damaged our natural waters. If rivers could talk, what story would they tell and how would they view humans and our actions? This is the story told from a rivers’ perspect...
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River water quality is deteriorating, finds EPA

The EPA has published the Water Quality in Ireland Report for the period 2013-2018. This assessment provides an evaluation of the ecological health of Ireland's rivers, lakes, canals, groundwater, estuaries and coastal waters. The analysis is based on the assessment of biological and environmental data collected from 2,703 surface water bodies and 514 groundwater bodies between 2013 and 2018. Th...
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Streams play big role in our clean water and biodiversity

Small streams are crucial for clean water and biodiversity. `A new international research project led by UCD’s school of biology and environmental science wants to find ways to limit pollution and improve animal and plant life in this important ecosystem. It is hard to believe but small streams make up about three-quarters of the length of the Irish river network. Of the 74,000km of river chann...
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North Cork Creameries Co-operative pleads guilty to polluting Allow River

North Cork Creameries Co-operative Ltd received the benefit of the Probation of Offenders Act following a guilty plea on two charges under fisheries and local government legislation at a sitting of Mallow District Court on Tuesday, 17th September. The charges followed an investigation by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) in relation to a pollution incident, which occurred on the River Allow at Kan...
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Hundreds of fish found dead in Cork river

Hundreds and possibly thousands, of fish have been found dead in a river in Co Cork, according to Inland Fisheries Ireland. A spokesperson for the organisation said an initial investigation indicates that “a significant algal bloom” caused the incident. The fish died in a minor tributary of the Bandon River, south of Dunmanway, near Curraghalicky Lake. The species affected i...
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Suspected ‘pollution incident’ turns UK River blue

A mysterious substance that has turned a tributary of a river in the West Country bright blue is being investigated by the UK Environment Agency. Tests are being carried out on the River Frome in Somerset this weekend after the water turned a luminous colour. The Environment Agency said it was treating it as a suspected pollution incident but there were no reports of dead wildlife. Test results ...
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Inland Fisheries confirm 6.5km of Laois river polluted by silage effluent

Inland Fisheries Ireland has confirmed that "thousands of fish have been killed over a 6.5 stretch" of the Owenass river in Laois. The river rises in the Slieve Bloom Mountains and flows through Mountmellick town and on into the Barrow river, both Special Areas of Protection. It was hit late last week by pollution with more and more fish found dead as days went by. The fish killed are mainl...
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Pollution fish kill in Laois river rises to thousands

The number of fish killed by suspected silage runoff pollution in a Laois river has risen to thousands say the local angling club. Mountmellick Angling Club is counting the cost of the pollution to the Owenass river which they say will take 10 to 15 years to recover. Tommy Quigley their government appointed Water Keeper was wading through the river in Mountmellick this Sunday morning June 23. De...
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