An environmental crisis at the UK’s largest freshwater lake has become a political problem, it has been claimed.
Blue-green algae returned to Lough Neagh in the centre of Northern Ireland for the third summer in a row this week, with some describing the current situation as the worst they have yet seen.
This summer the condition of the lough caused the eel-fishing season to be cut short.
The blue-green algae has also spread to other waterways, causing two north coast beaches to close for bathing at the weekend.
Last week Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir said he was “determined to turn the situation around”, adding a number of key decisions are coming up and urged others to back him.
Lough Neagh Partnership chief Gerry Darby expressed his frustration with a lack of action, telling the PA news agency that it is not an environmental problem, but a political problem.
While the Stormont Assembly has agreed a Lough Neagh Action Plan, Mr Darby stressed the importance of delivering the Nutrients Action Programme (NAP) to target nutrient pollution, particularly phosphorus and ammonia.
The farming community was critical of the NAP during a public consultation which closed in July.
A stakeholder group is to review the consultation responses and contribute additional proposals ahead of a second consultation later this year.
Mr Darby said the situation on the lough is “the worst I’ve seen”.
He attributed the issue to nutrients going into the lough from the farming sector, sewage treatment sector, septic tanks and general industry.
However he said the recent warm weather and sunny spell in May have exacerbated the situation.
The spread of the invasive zebra mussel species is also understood to have played a role in the blooms, as they have made the water clearer, allowing more sunlight to penetrate, stimulating more algal photosynthesis.
Meanwhile climate change is thought to be having an effect, with the bottom of the lough having increased in temperature by a degree in the last 20 years.
“It’s hard to predict, but the reality is there’s certainly no policy implementation at this moment in time that has changed the number of nutrients, or the amount of nutrients going into the lough, so the reality is nothing has really changed,” Mr Darby said.
“In one sense, it’s not an environmental problem, it’s a political problem.
“Unless the majority of parties come together to agree with Minister Muir, and the farming sector, it will never be solved.
“The farming sector is not the only sector supplying the nutrients, but they are the biggest and the majority, so that is where they need to start.
“The minister is more than open, in my view, to listen to any and to meet somewhere in the middle. Politics is all about meeting in the middle and compromise.
“There are no solutions, only trade-offs of different priorities, and without a discussion you’re not able to work out what those trade-offs will be.”
