The Last Lake (Lough Carra) EE19 EP2

Anja Murray investigates how one of the last remaining Marl lakes in Europe is facing decline. She hears from scientists concerned that pollution has pushed the lake to a tipping point and meets the community determined to save this rare and beautiful waterway.
Lough Carra in County Mayo is one of the finest examples of a marl lake found anywhere in the world, it’s a place of exceptional geology and natural beauty. For thousands of years, a limestone white bedrock and crystal clear waters gave the lake an almost tropical colouring. But over the last 20 years the lake has started to change, anglers noticed a drop in trout numbers and the lake started to lose it’s characteristic turquoise colour turning a murky green instead. The cause? The flow of phosphorus and nitrates from agricultural land that surrounds the lake in this largely rural part of County Mayo.
What can be done to stem the pollution flowing into the lake and ultimately restore it to its former natural beauty, before it’s too late? In this episode Anja learns what makes Lough Carra so special, meeting with scientists and community members who have come together to protect the lake.

[@benryan5755]

Excellent documentary. It can be fixed. If the state can only get it's incentive programs priorities right then the local people, who know the catchment land best, are the right people to do it.

[@EcoEye_TV]

Some good news (Dec 2021) Lough Carra just got approved for a 5 Million Euro EU Life project to try and save the lake and surrounding habitats www.mayo.ie/en-ie/news/project-to-improve-water-quality-in-lough-carra-to #LoughCarra #EULife

[@johnobrien9971]

Thats just to plant trees around the lake to soak up phosphates and nitrates, no effort to reduce them. Farmers are running away with themselves. I see it on every river and lake in the country. And don't get me wrong it's not just farmers, its irish water, forestry, local authorities etc. What's the point in keeping cattle away from the water when the vast amounts of slurry being spread ends up in the rivers anyway. I'd love to believe this will work but it won't unfortunately. I wonder how much of this 5 milion will be spent on consultants and pocket lining. Please prove me wrong.

[@dryflyman7121]

What a wonderful but frightening documentary. I came from England to fish Loughs Corrib and mainly Mask for 22 years. I never fished Carra. In those 22 years I witnessed a very sad decline in the fly life on those two Great Lakes and locals told me Carra was the same. This was very sad to see and in the end I had to stop going as the fishing was very poor and it became just too expensive to justify. My last visit was 2016 and I would be too old to safely manage it now anyway. I hope the funding obtained from Europe in 2021 helps to save this beautiful lake in time. God bless all who live around it and are trying to save it.

[@johnobrien9971]

2023 dry fly man and nothing is being done about it. Bucket of pea soup in carra.

[@frankcarty]

Very sad. I wouldn't hold my breath for the lakes survival.

[@tree708]

Flouride contributes to tooth decay also

[@mattwright2964]

This is happening all over the UK as well as Ireland. I've been fly fishing for over 40 years and seen the decline. Little fly life left, loss of natural stocks of fish. Land has been drained and nutrients and chemicals spread and natural areas of landscape that filtered and protected a catchment, turned to so-called "improved grazing". Streams that swarmed with fly life and trout are gone or severely depleted. Its utter greed and arrogance encouraged by Govts.

[@toyotaprius79]

When the economic overplays the cultural, overpowering the natural.

[@tree708]

🤔