Camoge Priority Area for Action Desk Assessment Background and Location

Summary: Camoge Priority Area for Action Desk Assessment This is a non-technical summary of the desk study on the Camoge Priority Area for Action (PAA). A desk study is the first step in our work. We gather available information about the river into a single document. To write these reports, we use information available for all waters that we plan to assess in the PAA. We get our information from: • The Environmental Protection Agency • Local Authorities • Inland Fisheries Ireland • Irish Water • The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine • Other public agencies. It also includes information learned from the public at a local community meeting. The community for the Camoge PAA was held in Herbertstown Community Centre on 11th of November 2019. The desk assessment helps us to understand: • The quality of the water in the river o Has it changed in the last few years? • The importance of the river o Are there any rare plants, animals or habitats that must be protected? o Is it used to supply our drinking water? • The human-made impacts o Is there a wastewater treatment plant? o Is land used for agriculture or forestry? o Has the river been changed physically? Background and location The Camoge PAA is located in Co. Limerick. The PAA is divided into four sections or waterbodies as shown in Figure 1 below and these waterbodies are differentiated by an unique name and number. The boundary of the waterbodies is depicted by the black lines. The rivers and streams are illustrated in blue. • Ballynamona_010: This waterbody flows from the Kilteely area to the New Bridge on the Hospital to Herbertstown road (R513) where it joins the Camoge_010. • Camoge_010: The Camoge rises south of Herbertstown. It flows in a north-westerly direction and is joined by several streams which drain the adjoining lands. • Camoge _020: This waterbody joins the Camoge_010 at Longford Bridge (Location 1 in Figure 1). It flows west through Grange to Gray’s Bridge (Location 2 in Figure 1). • Camoge _030: This waterbody flows from Gray’s Bridge to Cloghanduff Bridge on the Croom to Bruff road (R516) just south of Croom (Location 3 in Figure 1). This Camoge joins the Maigue just downstream of Cloghanduff Bridge. Figure 1: The Camoge PAA Catchment Description The settlements in the Camoge PAA are Kilteely, Herbertstown, Grange, Fedamore, Meanus and Monaster. Agriculture is the main land-use in the catchment, with some small areas of forestry. Soils are generally considered heavy with a high degree of artificial land drainage in low lying flat areas and lighter well drained soil mainly found on higher ground. The Camoge PAA forms part of the Maigue Rivers Trust. The Trusts aims are to work with local communities to ensure that the rivers and lakes of the Maigue catchment including the Camoge can achieve their full potential, both environmentally and recreationally. The Camoge PAA has a Special Area for Conservation known as Glen Bog and other areas such as Herbertstown Fen that are protected due to the presence of rare plants that grow there. The Camoge is also well known for its salmon and trout fishing. Water Quality in the Camoge PAA Rivers are classified into five quality classes (status), with high being unpolluted and bad being the most polluted. High Good Moderate Poor Bad The Environmental Protection Agency assigns status at (approximately) 3-yearly intervals based on the standards set out in European legislation, the Water Framework Directive. Status is based on many different elements that altogether indicate the overall health of the river, for example the ecology recorded in river habitats, the physico-chemical condition of the river (oxygen levels, nutrient concentrations, indicators of organic and chemical pollution etc) and also the physical condition of the river bed and bank. We need to make sure that the Camoge PAA achieves good status. We have reviewed water quality data available for each of the waterbodies and we have found that: • The Ballynamona_010 is not monitored under the Water Framework Directive and its status is unassigned. This means that more information is needed to determine which of the five quality classes mentioned above can be assigned to this waterbody. • The Camoge_010 is currently at poor status. It is unclear what is causing this unsatisfactory water quality as there is no information on nutrient levels. The available information indicates that poor habitat conditions are created by sediment on the river bed but this may not be the only reason for the poor status. • The Camoge_020 is currently at poor status. It is unclear what is causing this unsatisfactory water quality as there is no information on nutrient levels. • The Camoge_030 is currently at poor status. We have identified that the level of the nutrient phosphorus is too high and this has caused a decline in water quality. Sources of Pollution Pollutants find their way to rivers by a number of paths: • They can be piped directly to the river from large sources such as wastewater treatment plants, or small sources such as faulty septic tanks, farmyards, roadside drains etc. • They can flow across the ground to the river when nutrients which are applied to the land as fertiliser are washed off by rainfall before the crop and soil has time to absorb them. This is usually a problem where soils are wetter and poorly draining, particularly during wet weather. • Groundwater losses occur when pollutants move down through the soil and rock into groundwater and eventually into rivers, lakes and coastal waters. This usually occurs when too much fertiliser is applied to land, or when the soil is not ready to absorb the nutrient (e.g., temperatures too cold, incorrect soil pH etc) and is common in free-draining/ light soils. From our desk study, we have identified four potential pollution sources in the Camoge PAA which we will examine further. These are agriculture, domestic wastewater treatment systems, urban wastewater and hydromorphology (physical condition of the waterbody). • Agriculture is a likely source of the elevated nutrient phosphorus in Camoge_030 and probably the wider Camoge PAA. The nature of the heavy soils in much of this PAA is that they do not hold on to phosphorus well. This means it can be easily washed of the land and into the river, streams and drains. This happens when fields are waterlogged and/or following heavy rainfall. • Domestic wastewater treatment systems or septic tanks are another likely source of nutrients due to the high density of rural dwellings. • Due to the poor status downstream, Herbertstown urban wastewater treatment plant is also a possible nutrient source which will have to be assessed. • Hydromorphology is where the river and land adjacent to the river are physically changed from their natural conditions. Straightening and deepening of the channel and land drainage are some examples. These practices have consequences as sediment is released and settles in some places on the riverbed. This sediment affects fish and other life in the river. Our desk assessment indicates that land drainage in the Camoge_020 and straightening and deepening of the channel in Camoge_030 are major pressures there. These as well as other potential pollution sources that may arise will be examined further during field visits. Community Engagement Meetings and Next Steps We held a community information meeting in Herbertstown on 11th of November 2019 to tell the public about our work and to hear about water quality concerns from people living in the area. Questions and comments raised at the meeting included the following issues: • The effects of forestry on water quality, • Road runoff, • Herbicide misuse, • Calendar farming, • What is in this programme for farmers? • How far along are we in terms of meeting the water quality objectives in the PAA? • Land drainage and channel maintenance, • Cattle access to rivers. The Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advice Programme advisors from Teagasc, Kerry Agribusiness and Dairygold will hold an information meeting for farmers within the PAA. During this meeting, the advisors will give details of the support and advice they provide for farmers. Local Catchment Assessment LAWPRO’s catchment scientists will carry out fieldwork to identify areas of impact in the rivers in the PAA. We will assess the biology and collect water samples to establish the nutrient levels and identify where these may be coming from. The desk assessment indicates that nutrients and sediment are the main issues across the entire PAA. We will walk stretches of the river to identify where they are being lost to the river. A report on the outcome of this local catchment assessment work will be published here when available. The table below gives some summary information on waterbody status, possible water quality issues and sources of pollution for the waterbodies in the Camoge PAA. Table 1: Ecological status, pressures and significance in the Camoge PAA. Waterbody Ecological Status EPA Characterisation EPA Characterisation Desk Study review Desk Study review Significant Pressure Risk Significant Issue potential additional potential significant Category (Sub-category) Code Name Type 2007-09 2010-12 2010-15 2013-18 2013-2015 pressures (2020) issues (2020) 2013-2015 Agriculture (Pasture) None specified Nutrient Pollution Organic Pollution Urban Wastewater Chemical Pollution (Agglomeration PE < 500) Elevated Temperatures Microbiological Pollution IE_SH_24B080900 BALLYNAMONA_010 River Review Unassigned None None Nutrient Pollution

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