Senior inspector at the Department of Agriculture Ted Massey has acknowledged that there are “very stark anomalies” in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) water quality report submitted to the European Commission.

He described the report as not including the latest data on water quality improvements, and suggested that it was only submitted as the Commission would not afford Ireland more time.

The report, according to the Commission’s position, will result in approximately 3,200 farmers having their maximum permitted stocking rate in the nitrates derogation fall from 250kg to 220kg N per hectare.

Massey said that the EPA water quality trend maps, included in the report and submitted to the Commission, are based on a small data set which “doesn’t consider the best available information”.

He was speaking at the Teagasc Moorepark 2023 dairy open day outside Fermoy, Co Cork on Tuesday.

Maps

While acknowledging that its map data was incomplete, Massey defended the EPA’s position.

“In terms of the report and the map, the EPA in fairness to them have followed the requirements that were set out by the European Commission.

“That throws up some very stark anomalies – the Blackwater, the Bandon, the Slaney – they are all not included in that map because that map is based on the nitrates directive data monitoring section and that’s what the Commission said it was to be based on,” he explained.

The department inspector went on to warn that based off the EPA’s work with a more comprehensive data set, the Water Framework Directive water monitoring database, more land could be brought in under the area where farmers in derogation will have to reduce their stocking rates.

The Commission has not taken into account the impact of cow banding, said Massey.

“If we were to apply that same test to that broader data set, it would bring in more land,” he said.

Commission

Massey described how the department sought more time from the Commission to allow greater data collection on water quality improvements.

“When the Commission proposed this, they were not taking into account the impact of the likes of banding, only applicable from this year. That has no impact on water quality last year.

“The measures that were introduced last year will only probably start to show an impact from this year on.

“There’s a lag time between when the farmer adopts the measure on farm and when we see the full impact in terms of water quality and that’s a real challenge for us.

“We have argued for more time from the Commission but in response to that the Commission say to us ‘we don’t have time’ and that’s where the real challenge is,” he said.

Final map

Massey argued that as Ireland goes through its interim nitrates derogation review process, the department will have to conduct a strategic environmental assessment of Ireland’s water quality trends.

He said this interim environmental assessment will likely raise the issue of the fact that a smaller EPA data set on Irish rivers was used.

“The EPA’s work is based on a smaller data set and it doesn’t consider the best available information and that map could well change in response to that environmental assessment,” he added.