Water Quality Trends and Threats in Northern Ireland Donnacha Doody Acknowledgement: Water Framework Directive Data Provided by NIEA Overview What are the current water quality trends? What are the sources of phosphorus? What are the Current Trends? Soluble Reactive P Trends in NI SRP= Soluble Reactive P Range Impacts of Waterbodies E.g Contaminants Hydromorphology Sediment Invasive Species Drainage Phosphorus River-Eutrophication Impacts 39% Below Good Status Summary-Water Quality HighGoodModeratePoorBadNo Data % of points (mg /l) 0.02 >0.02- 0.1>0.1- 0.5>0.5 - 1> % of Waterbodies in each WFD Category based on SRP SRP in Northern Ireland rivers 28% below Good Status 69.5% above 0.02mg/l What are the sources of P? Contribution of Sectors National Scale Small OWWTW - (including septic tanks) Contribute 15% to national annual P loads During summer months this can be > 50% Contribution of Sectors Catchment Scale National Phosphorus Surplus P Surplus Yearkg P/ha Impact of P Loss from Soils Over the past 10 years there has been a significant increase of 0.31 mg Olsen-P/l/yr identified across NI. Phosphorus Loss in Runoff Index 2 Index 3 Index 4 Phosphorus Loss in Runoff Index 2 Index 3 Index 4 Contribution of Slurry Applications Slurry No Slurry Summary Challenges for nutrient management 1.Sensitivity of waterbodies 2.High soil P values 3.High frequency of runoff Way forward 1.Catchment based approach 2.Targeted action Thank You Any Question?