Nore Catchment Assessment 2010-2015 (HA 15)
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Nore Catchment Assessment 2010-2015 (HA 15) Catchment Science & Management Unit Environmental Protection Agency December 2018 Version no. 3 Preface This document provides a summary of the characterisation outcomes for the water resources of the Nore Catchment, which have been compiled and assessed by the EPA, with the assistance of local authorities and RPS consultants. The information presented includes status and risk categories of all water bodies, details on protected areas, significant issues, significant pressures, load reduction assessments, recommendations on future investigative assessments, areas for actions and environmental objectives. The characterisation assessments are based on information available to the end of 2015. Additional, more detailed characterisation information is available to public bodies on the EPA WFD Application via the EDEN portal, and more widely on the catchments.ie website. The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of the situation in the catchment and help inform further action and analysis of appropriate measures and management strategies. This document is supported by, and can be read in conjunction with, a series of other documents which provide explanations of the elements it contains: 1. An explanatory document setting out the full characterisation process, including water body, subcatchment and catchment characterisation. 2. The Final River Basin Management Plan, which can be accessed on: www.catchments.ie. 3. A published paper on Source Load Apportionment Modelling, which can be accessed at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3318/bioe.2016.22 4. A published paper on the role of pathways in transferring nutrients to streams and the relevance to water quality management strategies, which can be accessed at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.3318/bioe.2016.19.pdf 5. An article on Investigative Assessments which can be accessed at: https://www.catchments.ie/download/catchments-newsletter-sharing-science-stories-june- 2016/ Table of contents 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 2 Water body status and risk of not meeting environmental objectives ............................... 3 2.1 Surface water ecological status ..................................................................................... 3 2.1.1 Rivers and lakes .................................................................................................................. 3 2.1.2 Transitional and coastal (TraC) .......................................................................................... 3 2.2 Groundwater status ....................................................................................................... 6 2.3 Risk of not meeting surface water environmental objectives ...................................... 6 2.3.1 Rivers and lakes .................................................................................................................. 6 2.3.2 Transitional and Coastal (TraC) .......................................................................................... 7 2.4 Risk of not meeting groundwater environmental objectives ....................................... 7 2.5 Protected areas ............................................................................................................. 9 2.5.1 Drinking water protected areas ......................................................................................... 9 2.5.2 Bathing waters ................................................................................................................... 9 2.5.3 Shellfish areas .................................................................................................................... 9 2.5.4 Nutrient sensitive areas ..................................................................................................... 9 2.5.5 Natura 2000 sites ............................................................................................................. 10 2.6 Heavily modified water bodies .................................................................................... 10 3 Significant issues in At Risk water bodies .......................................................................... 10 4 Significant pressures ........................................................................................................... 10 4.1 Water bodies ............................................................................................................... 10 4.1.1 Rivers, lakes, transitional and coastal .............................................................................. 11 4.1.2 Groundwater .................................................................................................................... 11 4.2 Pressure type ............................................................................................................... 11 4.2.1 Agriculture ........................................................................................................................ 11 4.2.2 Urban waste water treatment plants .............................................................................. 12 4.2.3 Industry ............................................................................................................................ 12 4.2.4 Forestry ............................................................................................................................ 13 4.2.5 Other significant pressures .............................................................................................. 13 4.2.6 Diffuse urban .................................................................................................................... 13 4.2.7 Hydromorphology ............................................................................................................ 13 4.2.8 Extractive industry ........................................................................................................... 13 4.2.9 Domestic waste water ..................................................................................................... 13 5 Load reduction assessment ................................................................................................ 18 5.1 River water body load reductions ............................................................................... 18 5.2 TraC load reductions .................................................................................................... 20 6 Further characterisation and local catchment assessments ............................................. 21 7 Catchment summary .......................................................................................................... 21 8 Areas for Action .................................................................................................................. 21 8.1 Process of Selection ..................................................................................................... 22 8.2 Overview of process .................................................................................................... 22 9 Environmental Objectives .................................................................................................. 25 9.1 Surface Water .............................................................................................................. 25 9.2 Groundwater ............................................................................................................... 26 10 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ 26 1 Introduction This catchment includes the area drained by the River Nore and all streams entering tidal water between its confluence with the River Barrow at Ringwood, and the Barrow railway bridge at Drumdowney, Co. Kilkenny, draining a total area of 2,595km². The largest urban centre in the catchment is Kilkenny. The other main urban centres in this catchment are Abbeyleix, Callan and Thomastown. The total population of the catchment is approximately 94,700 with a population density of 37 people per km². The Nore Rises on the north-eastern slopes of Borrisnoe Mountain, from where it runs northeast over an area underlain by a large gravel aquifer and past Borris-in-Ossory. The southern slopes of the Slieve Bloom Mountains are drained by the Tonet, Delour and Mountrath Rivers which join the Nore east and south of Mountrath. The next sizable tributaries that flow into the Nore are the Cappanacloghy River and the Ballyroan River, which drains the area around Abbeyleix. Downstream of this confluence, the River Gully enters the Nore before the Erkina River joins at Durrow. It then flows over a gravel aquifer which follows the course of the river as far downstream as Kilkenny City. The Owveg River joins the Nore north of Ballyragget before the Nuenna River joins from the west near Freshford. Downstream of this, the Dinin River flows into the Nore near Threecastles. On entering Kilkenny City, the Bregagh River and the Brownstown River join the Nore. There is a sparsity of drainage channels in the catchment south of Kilkenny City as the karstified nature of the bedrock in this location means that much of the rain falling in this area infiltrates underground. The next major tributary to join the Nore is the King’s River, which drains the southern side of the Slieve Ardagh Hills. Flowing south in a steep-sided valley, the