WATER quality in more than half of Limerick’s lakes, two-thirds of its estuaries and almost half of its rivers is not good.
That was the disappointing news delivered to members of the Limerick City and County Environment committee by senior executive engineer, Anne Goggin.
Monitoring by the Environmental Protection Agency showed that water quality in 45 per cent of rivers, 54 per cent of lakes and 69 per cent of estuaries is below par.
Ms Goggin said that in the new River Basin Management plan, there won’t be funding to tackle all of the water bodies that need attention.
Among the water bodies which will be prioritised for works will be the Camogue River and some of its tributaries as well as the Groody, Lough Gur, the Mulcair, the White River and the Upper Deel.
Cappamore councillor, Noel Gleeson (FF) said he is “surprised that river Shannon wasn’t included. That is a huge concern in Limerick because there is water extracted from public consumption”.
Ms Goggin said that “all the water bodies included in Limerick for work are tributaries of the Shannon, so by including them you are including the Shannon”.
She added that some of the reasons for water deterioration in Limerick include “very wet winters, which haven’t helped and there has been a big increase in animal numbers in recent years.
“We have also had a number of very serious spills from steel slurry towers, many of them for very avoidable reasons,” she said, adding that most farmers are anxious for any guidance or information which might help prevent this”.
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