Verde Environmental Consultants & Oil Leak Clean Up Specialists

River water quality dips due to ‘set dates’ for slurry spreading

River water quality dips due to ‘set dates’ for slurry spreading River water quality has fallen sharply because farmers are forced to spread slurry between set dates and not when it is safest to do so, the Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland (FCI) has said. Speaking at the Oireachtas agriculture committee, the group’s chief executive Michael Moroney said current rules are not...
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New indicator on pesticides in European waters

New indicator on pesticides in European waters The EEA has published a new indicator that tracks findings of pesticides in Europe’s rivers, lakes and groundwaters. The data, collected from EEA member countries across Europe, shows the share of water bodies where excessive levels of pesticides have been recorded from 2013 to 2019. The data are limited to those pesticides reported by countries to E...
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Many obsolete barriers harm Europe’s rivers – EEA Report

Many obsolete barriers harm Europe's rivers - EEA Report The EU’s biodiversity strategy for 2030 aims to restore at least 25 000 km of free-flowing rivers by 2030, by removing barriers and restoring floodplains and wetlands. The EEA briefing ‘Tracking barriers and their impacts on European river ecosystems’ provides an overview of the density of barriers in Europe’s rivers, their impacts, an...
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Suspected pollution turns Carrowbeg river in Westport into ‘white foaming flood’

Suspected pollution turns Carrowbeg river in Westport into ‘white foaming flood’ An incident in which the Carrowbeg river in Westport, Co Mayo was turned white with foam from suspected detergent, is being investigated by Inland Fisheries Ireland. No major fish kills have been reported but the incident has prompted the fisheries body, which operates under the remit of the Department of Environmen...
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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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River Basin Management Plan for Ireland 2022-2027 – public consultation

Mr. Eoghan Murphy T.D. Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government has published the draft timetable and work programme for the third-cycle River Basin Management Plan 2022 – 2027., The six-month public consultation runs to the 28th June 2019. The timetable and work programme sets out the main steps and milestones in the three year process of preparing Ireland’s third River B...
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