SEA Environmental Report for the Draft Cork City Development Plan 2022-2028
value of the groundwater resource. This is referred to as aquifer productivity and is mapped on Figure 4.13. Productivity classifications within the City include:
4.9.5 Ground Water Groundwater is stored in the void spaces in underground layers of rock, or aquifers. These aquifers are permeable, allowing both the infiltration of water from the soils above them and the yielding of water to surface and coastal waters. Groundwater is the part of the subsurface water that is in the saturated zone - the zone below the water table, the uppermost level of saturation in an aquifer at which the pressure is atmospheric, in which all pores and fissures are full of water. For groundwater bodies, the approach to classification is different from that for surface water. For each body of groundwater, both the chemical status and the quantitative must be determined. Both have to be classed as either good or poor . The WFD sets out a series of criteria that must be met for a body to be classed as good chemical and quantitative status. The WFD status (2013-2018) of groundwater underlying the City is mostly identified as being of good status, with an area of poor 39 status underlying Tramore Valley Park to the south of Cork City Centre (as shown on Figure 4.11). 4.9.6 Aquifer Vulnerability and Productivity The Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) rates groundwaters according to both their productivity and vulnerability to pollution. Aquifer vulnerability refers to the ease with which pollutants of various kinds can enter into groundwater. The vulnerability of aquifers underlying the City are mapped on Figure 4.12 and generally classified as being of:
Regionally important aquifer karstified (diffuse); Locally important aquifer bedrock which is moderately productive only in local zones; Locally important aquifer karstified; and
Regionally important gravel aquifer . 4.9.7 WFD Registers of Protected Areas
The WFD requires that Registers of Protected Areas (RPAs) are compiled for a number of water bodies or part of water bodies which must have extra controls on their quality by virtue of how their waters are used by people and by wildlife. The WFD requires that these RPAs contain: areas from which waters are taken for public or private water supply schemes; designated shellfish production areas; bathing waters; areas which are affected by high levels of substances most commonly found in fertilizers, animal and human wastes - these areas are considered nutrient sensitive; areas designated for the protection of habitats or species e.g. Salmonid areas; Special Areas of Conservation (SACs); and Special Protection Areas (SPAs). Entries to the RPAs within and adjacent to the City designated by virtue of their value to humans comprise:
Nutrient Sensitive Areas 40 - lakes and estuaries (as shown on Figure 4.14) including Lee Estuary /Lough Mahon; Surface Water and Groundwater 41 in Nutrient Sensitive Areas (as shown on Figure 4.14); and Drinking Water Surface Water Bodies 42 (shown on Figure 4.15). Groundwater beneath the entire City is also included. Shellfish areas: In order to protect existing shellfish waters and to ensure the future protection of these areas, the European Union introduced the Shellfish Waters Directive (2006/113/EC). The purpose of this Directive is to put in place concrete measures to protect waters, including shellfish waters, against pollution and to safeguard certain shellfish populations from various harmful consequences, resulting from the discharge of pollutant
Extreme, high and moderate , throughout the City; and Rock at or near surface or karst mainly in the north, north-west and south of the City.
The GSI also rates aquifers based on the hydrogeological characteristics and on the
39 Area underlying Waste Facility (W0012-03). 40 Areas designated as sensitive under the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) and and transposing Regulations. 41 Groundwater bodies that intersect with areas designated as sensitive.
42 Various water bodies are used for drinking water abstraction in accordance with European Communities (Drinking Water) (No. 2) Regulations 2007 (SI No. 278/2007).
CAAS for Cork City Council
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