Fishermen warn of lake pollution

Anglers warned on Tuesday, July 18th that Killarney's major tourist lake, Lough Leane, was now in as bad a state as it was ten years ago even though there had been a multi-million euro programme to tackle pollution.

Kerry County Council has erected public warning signs of a possible lethal toxic algal bloom. Water has fallen during the hot weather. A green scum has also appeared.

The council has also called an emergency meeting of a group established to deal with phosphorous pollution.

DJ Riordan, of Killarney Salmon and Trout Anglers, stated he believed fishing was finished on the lake for the summer.
“Too much phosphate is going into the lake. The good work of the Lough Leane working group has petered out and matters have slipped back to 1997 levels and are worsening,” he said.

Water quality worsened in the mid 1990s. This caused the first toxic algal bloom in 1997. A three-year lake catchment study identified phosphorous pollution from agricultural activity as part of the reason for pollution. Detergents and inefficient septic tanks attached to one-off housing were also seen as part of the reason for the estimated 30 tonnes of phosphorous going into the lake each year.

There are also concerns about the town’s sewage treatment plant due to the huge increases in the population of Killarney in recent years.