Key regulations, aimed at reducing pollution from agriculture, have not done enough to improve water quality, despite positive investment and efforts from farmers, a report from the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) said today [Thursday, April 30].
The OEP’s report assesses the effectiveness of the current Nutrient Action Programme (NAP) Regulations which have been in place since 2019 and how they are applied. It concludes that the regulations need to be significantly strengthened and better implemented if they are to deliver improved water quality as intended.
The report comes as discussions are ongoing on what measures should be included in the revised NAP Regulations.
Professor Robbie McDonald, OEP Chief Scientist, said: “Nutrient pollution is a key threat to Northern Ireland’s waters. Nutrient emissions from both agriculture and wastewater must be reduced greatly and rapidly to tackle the widening crisis we see across water bodies, such as Lough Neagh and Lough Melvin.”
Nutrients, primarily nitrogen and phosphorus from agriculture and wastewater, cause water pollution. Northern Ireland’s agri-food industry has become heavily dependent on millions of tonnes of imported animal feed and fertiliser from around the world.
These feeds and fertilisers often provide more nutrients than animals and crops need. This means the manure spread on land and the resulting run-off carry the excess nutrients into waterways, polluting lakes, rivers and coastal waters as well as harming sensitive habitats. Agricultural pollution is a major contributor to the blue-green algal blooms blighting Lough Neagh and other water bodies.
Professor McDonald added: “The agriculture industry and farmers have made considerable progress in reducing nutrient emissions, through innovation and investments in infrastructure and changes to farming systems, since the first NAP Regulations were introduced nearly 20 years ago.
“However, despite these positive efforts the evidence in our report shows further, significant change is urgently needed. The current NAP Regulations and aspects of their implementation have clearly been insufficient to deliver much-needed improvements in water quality.
“To reduce water pollution and secure the future of Northern Ireland’s waters, the NAP Regulations need to be significantly strengthened. This should happen alongside measures that effectively address pollution from wastewater.”
The report also finds the current regulations will not be able to deliver important environmental outcomes, such as the legally binding target of good ecological status for lakes, rivers and coastal waters and the goals of Northern Ireland’s first Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP), which was agreed by the Executive in 2024.
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), is legally required to review the NAP Regulations every four years with DAERA publishing its NAP proposals for consultation in May last year. The next round of NAP proposals is expected to go out for a second consultation in the coming months.
Professor McDonald said: “The revision of the NAP offers the key opportunity for the Executive to help deliver on water quality as well as better protecting and improving the environment in Northern Ireland, which is under unsustainable pressure.
“The evidence in our report is important and relevant to the ongoing discussions about the NAP proposals and we hope helpful to DAERA Minister Muir and the Executive in seizing the opportunity to ensure the revised NAP secures the future of Northern Ireland’s waters.”
There are 12 recommendations to help strengthen the regulations and their implementation.
Key actions include:
- Limiting the amount of extra nutrients given to animals and crops, to reduce the high quantity of excess nutrients polluting waterways
- Better enforcement to ensure fairness of the regulations. Increase inspections to check farms are adhering to nitrogen limits. DAERA’s figures suggest up to around 2,000 farms may be operating in excess of this limit, with little or no action taken to ensure compliance since 2018
- Providing more on-farm support for nutrient management for farmers
- Calculating the reductions in nutrient pollution, from farming and wastewater, that is needed to achieve clean water and ensuring the revised NAP Regulations can deliver agriculture’s part of this
Professor McDonald acknowledged that revising the NAP Regulations poses a challenge for the DAERA Minister and the Executive in balancing agriculture’s economic contribution and environmental protection.
He added: “However, these changes are necessary to protect and enhance the environment, maintain clean and safe drinking water supplies and air quality, and safeguard key industries such as tourism and fisheries, and indeed, farming itself into the future.”
The OEP’s Chief Scientist urged that action on significantly strengthening the regulations and their implementation is not delayed, as this will only exacerbate the challenges facing the next generation of farmers, that will also be made more difficult by climate change.
“Failing to invest in what needs to be done today is just borrowing from the next generation,” Professor McDonald said.
“There is robust evidence that the agri-food industry is a significant contributor to nutrient pollution. It must also, therefore, be a significant contributor to reducing pollution.”
He added: “Farming families should not be expected to shoulder the full burden of delivering these necessary changes alone. Government and the wider agri-food industry and its diverse businesses must play their part in ensuring a just transition for the farming community.”
You can access the full report here.
