Here in Thurles Town river walkways are expanded, using tarmac, while the water quality of the River Suir itself remains totally ignored by both Thurles Municipal District and Tipperary Co. Council.
The River Suir here in Thurles, Co. Tipperary like so many waterways, in less than 20 years has gone from being pristine clear water to the imitation of almost an open sewer.
World Water Day is held on March 22nd every year. It is an annual United Nations Observance, first begun in 1993, and held every year since, which is supposed to celebrates water and raises awareness of the 2 billion people currently living without access to safe, clean water.
River Suir passing through Thurles Town.
Not that many people care, but World Water Day is supposed to highlight the importance of fresh water and the sustainable management of this most precious of God given resources.
This years World Water Day event focused on groundwater quality and highlight a reminder urging the public to engage with the draft River Basin Management Plan public consultation, which closes at the end of this month.
In the words of groundwater expert and 2020 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate, Mr John Cherry, groundwater is “the Earth’s life support system”. It regulates the freshwater cycle, acting as a giant sponge that can absorb surplus water and mitigate shortages, making it of vital importance in terms of adaptation to climate variability.
Of significant concern is the fact that Ireland is now experiencing a sustained decline in water quality. From a total number of 4842 water bodies in Ireland, the status of our water in lakes, rivers and coastal waters as “good status” or better lies at between 50 and 53%.
River Suir passing through ThurlesTown.
Overall, water quality is in decline due to a number of pressures including agricultural activity, hydro-morphology and urban waste water.
Key measures required to address the decline in water quality include reducing the loss of soil from farmland into water, reducing the physical impacts on waters caused by drainage measures barriers such as weirs and continued investment in urban and rural water services.
A key tool in the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), the next River Basin Management Plan will contain the programme of measures that will help Ireland protect, improve and sustainably manage our water environment to 2027.
Achieving good water quality in our rivers, lakes, estuaries and seas is essential for protecting Ireland’s drinking water sources, environment and people’s quality of life.
As part of the consultation process, over 1000 people have attended 63 regional meetings held by the Local Authority Water Programme (LAWPRO) throughout the country, to receive information on the draft River Basin Management Plan and have their say on measures to improve water quality over the next five years.
A programme of stakeholder engagement has also taken place through meetings with environmental NGOs, agricultural groups, Local Authorities and other water groups.
Members of the public can submit their views on water quality via the public consultation HERE.
Many people across Tipperary and indeed Ireland, woke up to dirty looking vehicles, yesterday morning, despite same remaining stationary over last weekend. All vehicles without a garage or not sheltered, were found covered in a light form of brown dust on the roofs, windows and windscreens of their vehicles.
Sahara Dust Arrives In Thurles.
There is, however, thankfully an explanation for this dust. Same is being generated by clouds of sand particles coming from the Sahara Desert; same reaching very high altitudes. The particles are being transported worldwide, suspended in the air, covering thousands of miles and causing a decrease in European air quality; sand being visible on our streets and a reddish/orange sky colour in our atmosphere.
A few showers added overnight on Saturday and early on Sunday last and the result was Sahara dust being brought down to ground level, out of our atmosphere, all across Ireland and indeed other European countries including Spain, France and Germany.
Satellite images have shown huge amounts of this dust spreading across Europe, as people share eerie pictures of glowing orange skies.
This phenomenon is not new, often happening several times a year when big dust storms in the Sahara coincide with our southerly wind patterns; latter, this week, bringing our promised increase in temperatures.
The lack of rain over the past few days has meant that we haven’t really seen as much of this Saharan dust being grounded, as we have observed in previous years.
Exquisite Spring Narcissus ‘Carlton’ (Large-cupped Daffodils) displaying the Ukrainian colours today, on view at O’Driscolls Garden Centre here in Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
The spring equinox or vernal equinox (from the Latin ‘vernalis,’ which is derived from the Latin word for spring, ‘ver.’), this year (2022), occurs on today, March 20th, marking the first day of the ‘astronomical spring‘, technically occurring at 3.33pm (15:33pm).
Our alternative ‘meteorologicalspring‘ of course fell on March 1st 2022 and will last until May 31st, with summer starting on June 1st, autumn beginning on September 1st and winter following on December 1st.
An equinox is a phenomenon which only happens twice a year; once during the spring, marking the end of winter and the beginning of spring, and once during the Autumn, latter occurring around September 23rd, in the Northern Hemisphere, thus marking the beginning of autumn.
Equinoxes were used by early civilisations to divide up their year. During the equinox, day and night is measured around the same length. The name coming from the Latin word equi (meaning ‘equal’) and nox (meaning ‘night’); marking the two points in the year when the equator is the closest part of Earth to the sun, with both the northern and southern hemispheres sharing sunlight equally.
Today’s ‘astronomical spring‘ will last until the summer solstice, which this year will occur on Tuesday 21st June.
The days, thankfully, will now begin to get longer with the nights shorter as the earth wakes up from its winter hibernation, and Tipperary can usually look forward to the promise of a little more sunshine.
The EPA welcomes the High Court Judgement of Ms Justice Siobhán Phelan today, in the matter of the EPA’s application for injunctive relief for the cessation of the extraction of peat by Harte Peat, from a large area of peatlands in Counties Westmeath, Cavan and Monaghan.
The Judgment also concerned Harte Peat’s judicial review challenging the EPA’s decision not to consider a licence application.
The High Court granted the injunctive relief sought by the EPA, in respect of certain areas from which Harte Peat is extracting peat. The Court held that the public interest in ensuring that peat extraction is carried out in compliance with both domestic and EU environmental law is the single most significant factor warranting the granting of the Order sought by the EPA.
The Court also indicated that it proposed to grant Harte Peat declaratory relief in respect of inadequate reasons provided by the EPA in its decision on the licence application.
However, the Court held that the decision of the EPA not to consider the licence application was correct.
The EPA is currently considering the implications of this Judgment, including its implications for the EPA’s enforcement of other unauthorised peat extraction activities.
The “Clear Air Together Citizen Science Project”, led by the EPA and the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce, has worked with 1000 Dublin citizen scientists, to measure air pollution from traffic in their local areas.
The results clearly show that higher nitrogen dioxide levels are linked with higher traffic volumes.
The results will be used by the EPA to to support air quality modelling in Dublin and will be used by Dublin local authorities to support air quality management.
None of the results indicate a breach of EU air quality limit (40 µg/m3).
Clean Air Together is moving to Cork in late 2022.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and An Taisce’s Environmental Education Unit, this evening hosted a webinar with the citizen scientists of the Clean Air Together project, to present the results of the study.
During October 2021, these citizen scientists measured levels of the harmful air pollutant, Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2). The information gathered by them will now be used by the EPA to assist with air quality modelling and forecasting.
Commenting on the project, Mr Andy Fanning, Programme Manager in EPA, said: “Clean Air Together is a real success story for Citizen Science, with almost one thousand residents in Dublin measuring the levels of air pollution in their local areas. While the EPA has fixed air pollution monitoring sites in Dublin, this project has given us data about many areas that we are currently unable to monitor. This is the first time such a study has been run in Ireland and we are thrilled to see the level of interest. Unfortunately, we had to turn some people away and very much hope we can find ways to work with them again in the future. We simply couldn’t have completed this project without Dublin’s citizen scientists”.
Results showed that, while NO2 levels across Dublin city and county were generally good, higher levels were found near busy roads. This is not unexpected, as NO2 comes mainly from traffic. None of the levels reported in this project exceeded the EU annual average limit (40 µg/m3), but it should be noted that lower levels of NO2, are better for everyone’s health. All results are available on the Clean Air Together project site, HERE.
Ms Sabrina Moore, Clean Air Together project manager An Taisce’s Environmental Education Unit added: “The level of interest in this project shows people’s growing awareness of the importance of good air quality in their city, and a genuine interest in helping to protect their environment. So, what can we all do for our air quality? Where possible we should try to limit our personal car use by using public transport more often, or by walking or cycling. Continued investments in these infrastructures will make these choices easier. By shifting our behaviour we can make a difference and ensure that air quality is healthier across the city”.
For further information contact: Emily Williamson, EPA Media Relations Office 053-9170770(24 hours) or media@epa.ie
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