The Biological Survey of River Quality Results of the 2003 Investigations
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
INTERIM REPORT ON THE BIOLOGICAL SURVEY OF RIVER QUALITY RESULTS OF THE 2003 INVESTIGATIONS K.J. Clabby J. Lucey M.L. McGarrigle Environmental Protection Agency An Ghníomhaireacht um Chaomhnú Comhshaoil PO Box 3000, Johnstown Castle, Co.Wexford, Ireland Telephone: +353 53 60600 Fax: +353 53 60699 Email: [email protected] Website: www.epa.ie LoCall: 1890 33 55 99 © Environmental Protection Agency 2004 Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the material contained in this publication, complete accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Neither the Environmental Protection Agency nor the authors accept any responsibility whatsoever for loss or damage occasioned or claimed to have been occasioned, in part or in full, as a consequence of any person acting, or refraining from acting, as a result of a matter contained in this publication. All or part of this publication may be reproduced without further permission, provided the source is acknowledged. INTERIM REPORT ON THE BIOLOGICAL SURVEY OF RIVER QUALITY RESULTS OF THE 2003 INVESTIGATIONS Published by the Environmental Protection Agency, Ireland PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER ISBN 1-84095-137-0 11/04/400 Price €7 PREFACE Section 65 (3c) of the Environmental Protection Although there are very many smaller streams Agency Act, 1992, requires the Environmental which do not appear on this map, and which are Protection Agency (EPA) to "carry out, cause to not included in the survey, those which are be carried out, or arrange for such monitoring as shown are considered to form an acceptably it may consider necessary for the purposes of the representative national baseline. programme". The "programme" referred to is the national environmental monitoring programme The total number of rivers and streams in this which the Agency is responsible for baseline now stands at 1072; these are implementing or having implemented. In the biologically surveyed at some 3,100 locations present context the objectives of this programme extending over 13,100 kilometres of channel. are For logistical reasons just a third of this baseline a) to establish the ongoing quality status of our can be surveyed in any year and thus the baseline rivers and streams takes three years to survey. b) to monitor quality changes and trends over time The survey is complemented by the physico- c) to assess the performance of pollution control chemical measurements of river quality made by and abatement measures the Regional Water Laboratories at Castlebar, d) to provide feedback to the responsible control Kilkenny and Monaghan and those of the many agencies and local authority laboratories. Such chemical data e) to inform the general public are required to assess compliance with prescribed physico-chemical standards and for the precise In relation to the “control agencies” mentioned identification and quantification of pollutants in above the responsibility for the licensing and waters. regulation of large/complex industrial and other processes (including intensive agriculture) rests with EPA whereas the control and abatement of This interim report continues the series issued by pollution from older and “non-scheduled’’ AFF from 1973 to 1986 and by the industry, from sewage and from agriculture Environmental Research Unit (ERU) from 1989 remains the statutory responsibility of the local to 1991. authorities. The biological survey which is currently carried out by Agency biologists in Dublin, Kilkenny and Castlebar forms an essential element of the national monitoring programme. This survey was initiated by the then An Foras Forbartha (AFF) in 1971 when some 2,900km of channel on the larger rivers and their more important tributaries were biologically assessed for the first time. Since then the scope of the investigations has been steadily extended so that by 1990 virtually all of the rivers and streams depicted on the Ordnance Survey Map entitled “Rivers and their Catchment Basins” had been examined . iii iv CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................1 HYDROMETRIC AREA 06...................................................................5 HYDROMETRIC AREA 07..................................................................19 HYDROMETRIC AREA 10.................................................................37 HYDROMETRIC AREA 14.................................................................53 HYDROMETRIC AREA 16 (BALANCE*) ........................................81 HYDROMETRIC AREA 18..................................................................89 HYDROMETRIC AREA 19 (BALANCE) ........................................123 HYDROMETRIC AREA 20...............................................................129 HYDROMETRIC AREA 21...............................................................147 HYDROMETRIC AREA 24 (BALANCE) .......................................169 HYDROMETRIC AREA 25 (PART) ................................................173 HYDROMETRIC AREA 28...............................................................185 HYDROMETRIC AREA 29................................................................199 HYDROMETRIC AREA 30................................................................209 HYDROMETRIC AREA 31 (BALANCE) ......................................239 HYDROMETRIC AREA 32................................................................247 HYDROMETRIC AREA 33 (BALANCE) ........................................269 HYDROMETRIC AREA 35................................................................273 HYDROMETRIC AREA 38................................................................297 REFERENCES......................................................................................324 APPENDIX I ........................................................................................326 NOTE ON ALTERNATIVE RIVER NAMES ..................................337 CATCHMENT CHARACTERISTICS..............................................343 v 40 38 39 37 01 03 35 33 36 34 06 32 26 07 30 08 31 09 29 10 28 14 27 25 15 12 11 24 16 23 13 18 17 22 19 21 20 N Fig. 1. The principal Hydrometric Areas surveyed in 2003 vi INTRODUCTION such as sheep dip, mining wastes and industrial discharges and its effects are recognisably different to those caused by organic wastes. This report presents the results of the biological Physical pollution refers to siltation arising from river quality investigations carried out in the year quarrying, bog and forestry development and 2003 in which 1300 locations on 476 rivers and arterial drainage. streams were surveyed in those Hydrometric Some wastes (e.g., sewage and manure slurries) Areas indicated on the facing page (Fig. 1). commonly exert the three effects viz. organic, toxic and physical. For each Hydrometric Area (HA) the total number of locations surveyed in 1998-200 and 2001-2003 and the percentages falling into the WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT four biological quality classes A, B, C and D is shown in Table 1 overleaf. As more fully discussed in Appendix I, water quality and water pollution assessment methods This is the third year in the current 3-year cycle fall into two main categories - biological methods of investigation (2001–2003) in which the and chemical methods. Each approach has its national baseline of some 13,100 km of river own particular applications, strengths and channel is to be reassessed. All available weaknesses but ideally a combination of both is biological and physico-chemical data acquired in preferable to either on its own. the previous (1998–2000) cycle are set out and discussed in a two-part report published by the Biological Surveys: General Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in February 2001 (McGarrigle et al., 2001) Biological surveys are usually undertaken in the summer–autumn period (June–September) when POLLUTION TYPES AND SOURCES flows are likely to be relatively low and water temperatures highest. Surveys during this period The commonest type of pollution - organic are likely, therefore, to coincide with the worst pollution - is caused by sewage, animal manure conditions to be expected in those reaches slurries and food processing wastes: as the waste affected by waste inputs. Material for is consumed by the organisms of decay the examination is obtained by a `kick' sampling oxygen in the water is used up and the technique in the faster-flowing areas of the river breakdown products (including phosphorus and or stream (riffles) and the examination and nitrogen compounds) are released into the water. assessment of water quality is made on site. The main effects of organic pollution are Measurements of DO saturation and water therefore, the depletion of oxygen in the area temperature, as well as observations on immediately below the discharge and macrophyte and algal abundance, substratum eutrophication (i.e., enrichment) in the recovery type, water appearance and other biological and zone further downstream. Eutrophication, which physical features are also recorded. is also caused by the inappropriate and/or excessive application of organic (slurry) and The Survey of 2003 inorganic (artificial) manure to agricultural and forestry lands, has become very widespread in In the pages which follow the biotic index recent years and in the period 1998- 2000 it was ascribed to each location surveyed in the estimated that approximately one third of river current year is set out together with the Q channel length surveyed was affected to some values recorded in the previous surveys plus a degree. The characteristic