Some of the State’s biggest commercial water users face uncertainty over their right to continue taking supplies from rivers and lakes as new rules come into effect requiring them to obtain licences.
Early applicants for licences are being challenged by State wildlife and nature agencies, which question the impact of their usage on natural water sources and the surrounding environment.
Some applicants use billions of litres of water each year and have been taking supplies for decades. They include quarries, food and drink processors, fish farms and pharmaceutical companies.
Their usage is under scrutiny as part of the introduction of much-delayed water abstraction regulation in the Republic.
It is intended to safeguard water levels, water quality, freshwater species and protected habitats at a time of increasing pressure on natural water sources.
Five licences have been granted so far by the body overseeing the process, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
All are for Uisce Éireann, which depends mainly on rivers and lakes for the 1.7 billion litres of drinking water it supplies daily.
In recent weeks, other heavy water users have also begun submitting licence applications, and some have run into opposition from State bodies.
Irish Distillers in Midleton, Co Cork, wants to take up to 7.9 million litres of water daily from groundwater sources and the Dungourney river.
Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) claims the application is “severely lacking” in assessing the impact on fish in the river or on the river and those habitats generally.
“No impact assessment or assessment of the sustainability of this abstraction rate has been undertaken,” the IFI’s submission states.
Irish Distillers says these issues were examined as part of an environmental impact statement (EIS) in 2011.
“Any impact on the river quality, level and ecology was assessed as part of the EIS assessment works,” it says.
The EPA says it proposes to decide before next summer.
Aurivo Dairy Ingredients is seeking a licence to take up to six million litres of water daily from the Lung river near Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon.
The company says it has been taking water from the river since 1972 and that the EPA already regulates its operations.
However, the National Parks and Wildlife Service says the assessment carried out is inadequate for the new licence regulations.
It has told the EPA that the effect on several nearby protected areas of lake and bog has not been properly assessed.
“No consideration has been given to any potential impacts in respect of the site-specific conservation objectives for the qualifying habitats and species,” it says.
Aurivo has also been told to expect a decision by June 2026.
In another case, the IFI says it “strongly objects” to an application by Derrylea Holdings for the Pollmounty Fish Farm at New Ross, Co Wexford.
“IFI have serious concerns regarding the environmental sustainability of the Pollmounty hatchery abstraction from the Poulmounty river [also known as Pollmounty river],” the agency’s submission says.
It says Atlantic salmon and lamprey are badly affected by barriers related to the abstraction, that it is unclear how much water is being taken and that discharges from the farm diminish water quality.
Pollmounty Fish Farm wants a licence covering the abstraction of 6.7 million litres of water daily.
It says the company “abstracts the water at the start of the farm and allows the water to flow out at the end of the farm so the abstraction is only temporary”.
Questions have also been raised about applications from Nutricia Infant Nutrition, Macroom, Co Cork, Roadstone’s Feltrim Quarry, Swords, Dublin, and Owens Quarry, Mullingar, Co Westmeath.
Two of the largest commercial abstractors, Boliden Tara Mines in Co Meath and Adfert Quarry Products in Co Kerry, are seeking licences to take 26 million litres and 40 million litres of water daily, respectively.
Both say the abstraction relates to pumping groundwater out of the mines and that the water is released to local rivers.
No third-party submissions have been received yet.
Under the regulations, belatedly introduced following criticisms from the European Commission, anyone taking more than 25,000 litres of water daily directly from rivers, lakes and groundwater sources must register with the EPA.
Almost 2,000 have registered, including farms, golf courses and a wide variety of businesses.
Taking more than two million litres daily requires an EPA licence, while taking between 25,000 and two million litres triggers an assessment that may also lead to a permit being required, depending on the location and condition of the water source.
Uisce Éireann is the single biggest user of freshwater sources, and it is being prioritised for the processing of licence applications.
The EPA said 334 registered abstractions involved volumes in excess of two million litres daily and so far licence applications had been received for 40, while 241 were granted time extensions for submitting applications.
“It is not possible to say with any degree of certainty how long it will take to process all the applications,” said the EPA.
“It is a new regime with the first applications only received in April 2025. The volume of applications is such that it will take a number of years to process all the applications.”