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Review of potential local measures for mitigating farm impacts in catchments


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The attached review and evaluation of local mitigation measures in respect of farming activities and water management was commissioned by the Catchment Science & Management Unit of the
Environmental Protection Agency.

The review is intended to inform the process of catchment management planning by providing a list of potential measures for selection with some indication of their efficacy and practicality of
implementation, areas suitable for use and acceptability to farmers. The important issue of cost of implementation has not been included here, but cost effectiveness is clearly a vital element of
measures selection and catchment planning that must be addressed.

The measures listed are local mitigation measures; on-farm actions that may be undertaken by a single farmer.

Catchment-wide actions and policy initiatives such as requirements for participation in agri-environment schemes, export of slurry from sensitive or impacted catchments, or extensive land
use changes are not included.

The review focuses on nutrient control (N and P) since these are the major pressures arising from farming in Ireland. Where measures may also be effective in controlling other pollutants (sediments, pathogens or pesticides), or have other beneficial impacts (in terms of biodiversity, flood control or greenhouse gas emissions) this is captured in the review table.

About this report:
This review of potential local measures for mitigating farming impacts in catchments was prepared by Tony McNally for the EPA Catchment Science and Management Unit. It was completed in May 2017.

Note: The table of regulatory measures on page 27 has been updated to reflect the Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters Regulations SI No 605 of 2017, which came into effect on 1 January 2018.

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About author

EPA Catchments Unit

Administrator

The EPA Catchments Unit is based in Dublin, and the team is involved with catchment science, chemistry, ecology, hydromorphology, modelling, Geographic Information Systems and planning. We work with the wider EPA, all of our local authorities, the Local Authority Waters and Communities Office, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, and other public bodies and Departments to ensure we have the best available data and information about our catchments.

Who is involved?
Quite simply, everyone in Ireland has a role to play. This can be from something as simple as making sure you don’t pollute your local stream, or a local community working together to establish a Rivers Trust to enhance the rivers and lakes in their area, to a Government Department or Agency helping a Minister implement a new policy to help protect and enhance all our water bodies.

This website has been developed and is maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency, and is a collaboration between the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Local Authority Waters Programme.

Local Authority Waters Programme

The Local Authority Waters Programme coordinates the efforts of local authorities and other public bodies in the implementation of the River Basin Management Plan, and supports local community and stakeholder involvement in managing our natural waters, for everyone’s benefit.

Environmental Protection Agency

The EPA is responsible for coordinating the monitoring, assessment and reporting on the status of our 4,842 water bodies, looking at trends and changes, determining which waterbodies are at risk and what could be causing this, and drafting environmental objectives for each.

Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The Department is responsible for making sure that the right policies, regulations and resources are in place to implement the Water Framework Directive, and developing a River Basin Management Plan and Programme of Measures to protect and restore our waters.