Mr. Ted Massey:

Yes. Last week the EPA published early insight data covering 20 rivers we know to be representative of the national situation. The report was solely focused on nitrate concentration in those rivers and showed an increase on last year. The report for last year was very positive in that it showed our levels were the lowest they had been since about 2016. This year, concentration had gone up but the EPA report states that requires further investigation because there are a number of things that influence the concentration in water. They are weather, agricultural land management and the nutrient or source load present in the environment.

When we consider the EPA data, we must first set it in context. While it is obviously disappointing the levels went up, they are only marginally higher than in 2022 for the same rivers and well below the same period in 2023. We should also think back to the weather in the first six months of the year, which was relatively dry. In many of those rivers, the rate of flow was less than it would have been historically in a normal year. The rate of flow will have an influence on the concentration of nutrients and on how nutrients move through the soil, in terms of rainfall.

There is a job of work to be done to identity what has happened there. One thing I would take from the report is nitrates concentration increased in all those rivers in all areas of the country. It was not just in areas which tend to have more derogation farmers; it was in all areas. That, to my mind, points to the weather having a greater role to play.