Water quality: On a clear course of action

Deirdre Glynn is a sustainability advisor with Teagasc focussing on water quality. Alongside Aidan O’Donovan, a farm sustainability advisor with Tirlán, and Brian Casey, a catchment scientist with LAWPRO, Deirdre discusses the various support measures now in place to assist farmers’ efforts to improve water quality outcomes. She began by outlining new funding of up to €50m now available through the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) aimed at assisting farmers in putting money into water protection measures on their farms: “Our collaborative efforts with Tirlán and LAWPRO have been in place since 2019. We have been advising farmers on actions that would improve water quality in their areas and remediate the pressures on water quality from farm practices and infrastructures. Up to now, these actions have been completely voluntary by farmers and did have a cost attached. We studied the actions that farmers were implementing on their farms, and we compiled cost/benefit analyses of the impacts of the actions being taken to reduce nitrate, phosphate and sediment losses. We understood that, even though farmers were fully cooperative, some actions were not being undertaken because of the prohibitive costs involved.
“Teagasc and Dairy Sustainability Ireland (the latter is a collaborative project with Bord Bia, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and a number of Ireland’s dairy processors) got together and set up the Waters EIP, which is focussed on priority areas for action in improving quality in our freshwater courses and groundwaters. There is tiered access to the programme funding with €10m available annually. There is a suite of 41 farm-based mitigation actions that can be supported under the programme. The target under the Water Framework Directive is to achieve good water quality status in our watercourses. The most recent water-quality report suggests a standstill in terms of improvement. Some watercourses have remained at their previous standard, some have improved, and others have disimproved. This new source of funding includes everything from developing a water plan, nitrogen-use-efficiency planning, aid for solar water pumps to remove the necessity for cattle to drink in watercourses, the establishment of linear and spatial buffers, catch crops, multispecies swards, nutrient-management plans and farmer-training courses among the list of 41 potentially adoptable measures on farms. It really is a comprehensive list of financial supports to help farmers take the actions identified as necessary to improve water quality outcomes on farms. It remains a voluntary programme, and we have found very high engagement levels among the farmers we visit. The second tier of access is to maintain and restore watercourses to good quality status.”

Nitrate reduction is a priority

Brian outlined current watercourse standards: “One of the biggest issues in the southeast is the level of nitrates in the watercourses. High nitrates levels have a negative quality effect on our coastal waters and estuaries, more so than in the actual streams and rivers. Algal blooms are an obvious example of this off our coasts, where rivers enter the sea. That’s the reason for the big push to get our nitrates levels down.” There are big variations, he explained, in nitrates levels depending on a range of factors including rainfall, time of year and soil types. "Heavier, less permeable soils are less likely to lose nitrates to watercourses. Free-draining soils tend to leach more nitrates. Excess nitrogen in the soil during the growing season doesn’t show up until later on in the year after heavier rainfall levels in wintertime. While there is natural mineralisation of nitrogen in the soil, there is an emphasis on managing additional nitrogen applications to minimise losses from these sources. We have seen some improvements in the priority areas for action (PAAs). These improvements have been greater than those areas outside of PAAs.”

Co-op commitment

The work being undertaken by co-ops currently includes farm walks to demonstrate water-quality actions being undertaken on individual farms. Aidan explained that these farm walks are all about raising awareness of what can be achieved through the individual actions of landowners: “Alongside these initiatives, Tirlán supports a range of sustainability and water improvement actions through its annual Sustainability Payment Scheme, which provides financial support for farmers to take on initiatives on their farms. It is paid out through an additional milk price payment of 0.5c/L. Seven actions from a list of 20 potential options must be undertaken to qualify for the payment. Some of the priority actions we target on farms include fencing off watercourses, the use of low-emission-slurry-spreading technology, the development of a water-quality plan under Teagasc’s Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme, eliminating farmyard runoff and the use of protected urea.”

Farmer buy-in

The degree of engagement with farmers is considerable, Deirdre confirmed: “We engage in one-to-one discussions with hundreds of farmers as well as bringing farmers together in groups to tackle issues in areas where watercourse frontages, for instance, for instance are shared. The financed initiatives are specific to nitrates and phosphates and sediment. There are different actions or initiatives most suited to combating nitrate losses or phosphate losses. It is reassuring that, where remedial actions have been taken, in many cases we have found water quality improvements. The financial support measures under the EIP will bolster more farm-based actions that should deliver further improvements over time. In many cases we have identified actions that should be taken on individual farms and groups of farms. The actions have to be practical and achievable. "Now we can re-engage with farmers, in the knowledge that we have access to financial support to help farmers deliver further actions and consequent improvements to water quality outcomes. While these supports are a big advance, I do acknowledge that further support will be necessary in the years ahead as we prioritise water quality improvements and ensure that farmers can play their part in delivering higher water quality standards.”