More than half of monitored river water bodies in Donegal now have a poor ecological status, the latest data reveals.
According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), 108 were described as poor, moderate or bad while 86 (44.3%) were said to be of good or high status.
Lough Swilly was the only Donegal lake water body in a bad ecological status in the 2016-2021 period.
Nationally, around 51% of monitored river water bodies were in Good or High ecological status in 2016-2021, while 49% had a Moderate, Poor, or Bad ecological status.
The information was contained in the Ecosystem Condition Accounts – Rivers and Lakes 2021 which was released today.
This release, published as part of the CSO’s Frontier Series, looks at the condition of our river and lake ecosystems. It uses Water Framework Directive reporting data produced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to compile ecosystem condition accounts for rivers and lakes.
Commenting on the release, Nova Sharkey, Statistician in the Ecosystem Accounts Division, said: When we look at lake water bodies, around 48% were in Good or High ecological status in the same assessment period, with 52% assigned a Moderate, Poor, or Bad ecological status. This means that around half of our river and lake ecosystems failed to reach the objectives set out in the Water Framework Directive. Only river and lake ecosystems in good condition can provide us with a full suite of ecosystem services, including clean water for drinking, habitats for biodiversity, flood protection, and cultural and recreational services.”
It is worth noting that the total number of river water bodies monitored by the EPA has been increasing since the 2007-2009 assessment period, from 2,161 to 2,398.
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