A team effort to improve water quality

By Ivan Kelly, Teagasc

WE live in a time of great change for Irish, and, indeed, world agriculture. You are all familiar with the forces driving change – Brexit, climate change, the requirement for compliance and food safety. The challenges are endless.

Farmers interact with consumers and operate their business in new ways, as new technologies emerge. In this changing environment, practice change including improved sustainability on farms cannot be achieved without a move away from regulation and a ‘top down’ approach.

ASSAP  – the Agricultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme – is built on the principles of improving water quality through collaboration and advice.

It is a change in how we interact with the farming community, from the old “stick” approach of compliance and rules, to a new programme where the emphasis is not on blame but on working together to find practical solutions.

The Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) scientists analyse the issues in a catchment and reach out to the local community to educate them on their work, while looking for feedback and help in identifying the local issues.

Where the scientists identify that agriculture is a significant pressure to water quality, ASSAP offer a farm visit to help identify suitable mitigation actions (measures to eliminate/minimise risk) to prevent nutrients entering water.

ASSAP has recently started work in the St Clarens catchment in County Galway. The LAWPRO scientists are indicating that Phosphorus (P) and sediment are the main issues from agriculture on part of this catchment.

Overland flow, often following heavy rainfall is the most likely pathway for the P and sediment to enter the waterbodies.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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