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CSO Publishes 2024 Update on Ireland’s Progress Toward Clean Water and Sanitation

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has published its 2024 update on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation. This annual report tracks Ireland’s progress toward ensuring sustainable water management and sanitation.

According to the CSO’s latest figures, 58% of monitored water bodies in Ireland were classified as having “good” ambient water quality in 2022. This indicator, part of SDG 6.3.2, is based on data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and reflects the ecological and chemical status of rivers, lakes, transitional, and coastal waters.

While this figure represents a slight improvement over previous years, it still falls short of national and EU targets under the Water Framework Directive, which requires all water bodies to achieve at least “good” status by 2027. The report highlights ongoing challenges such as nutrient pollution and the need for continued investment in wastewater treatment and catchment-based water management.

The report also provides several important insights into the condition and management of Ireland’s water bodies:

58% of monitored water bodies had “good” ambient water quality in 2022. The proportion of rivers with good ambient water quality was 50%, while 69% of lakes and 91% of groundwater bodies had a good ambient water quality.
42% of water bodies did not meet the “good” status threshold.
Nutrient pollution, especially from nitrogen and phosphorus, continues to impact rivers and lakes.
The Water Framework Directive sets a target for all water bodies to reach “good” status by 2027.
Transitional and coastal waters performed slightly better than rivers and lakes overall.
The EPA monitors approximately 2900 (60%) surface and ground water bodies across Ireland as part of its national water quality programme.

You can read the full report on the CSO website here.

Learn more about the EPA’s assessments of water quality and agriculture here.

About author

EPA Catchments Unit

Administrator

The EPA Catchments Unit is based in Dublin, and the team is involved with catchment science, chemistry, ecology, hydromorphology, modelling, Geographic Information Systems and planning. We work with the wider EPA, all of our local authorities, the Local Authority Waters and Communities Office, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, and other public bodies and Departments to ensure we have the best available data and information about our catchments.

Who is involved?
Quite simply, everyone in Ireland has a role to play. This can be from something as simple as making sure you don’t pollute your local stream, or a local community working together to establish a Rivers Trust to enhance the rivers and lakes in their area, to a Government Department or Agency helping a Minister implement a new policy to help protect and enhance all our water bodies.

This website has been developed and is maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency, and is a collaboration between the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Local Authority Waters Programme.

Local Authority Waters Programme

The Local Authority Waters Programme coordinates the efforts of local authorities and other public bodies in the implementation of the River Basin Management Plan, and supports local community and stakeholder involvement in managing our natural waters, for everyone’s benefit.

Environmental Protection Agency

The EPA is responsible for coordinating the monitoring, assessment and reporting on the status of our 4,842 water bodies, looking at trends and changes, determining which waterbodies are at risk and what could be causing this, and drafting environmental objectives for each.

Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The Department is responsible for making sure that the right policies, regulations and resources are in place to implement the Water Framework Directive, and developing a River Basin Management Plan and Programme of Measures to protect and restore our waters.