The Ballybay-Clones Municipal District has demanded the extension of Ireland's nitrates derogation by the European Union.
The current derogation ends on the 31st of December.
Fianna Fáil Cllr, Séamus Coyle, brought forward a motion that was unanimously adopted this week.
He believes that agricultural sector is being very harshly singled out for blame for emissions, while there are other contributors to the challenges of water quality.
The Cllr told Northern Sound that farmers have put in a lot of work in order to improve water quality.
He said: "The work the farmers and our government have put in over the last number of years in terms of improving slurry storage facilities.
"We have the period where farmers cannot, and do not, spread slurry during the winter months.
"EPA data has shown that water quality has improved by 10%. But if you want to attribute the difficulties to farmers, the counties that fell behind the national average of 10% were Dublin, Meath, Louth and Wicklow.
"This is the growth is population, sewage schemes, etc, that have contributed to those counties not reaching the targets that other counties have," he added.
