Limerick Greens express concern over Shannon plan

Under the plans, water will be removed from the River Shannon at the Parteen Basin, be treated in Birdhill, then be redirected up to the capital

placeholder image — Under the plans, water will be removed from the River Shannon at the Parteen Basin, be treated in Birdhill, then be redirected up to the capital

Uisce Eireann set to lodge planning application for major new water project

THE LIMERICK branch of the Green Party has expressed grave concerns over a scheme to redirect water from the River Shannon to Dublin.

Uisce Eireann, formerly Irish Water, was inviting submissions on the plan, which will see water taken from the lower River Shannon at Parteen Basin, treat it in Birdhill and then pipe it 170km to Peamount in south Dublin.

There is opposition to the development in this region, with campaign groups claiming it will damage thousands of hectares of agricultural land and will also have a negative ecological impact on the waterway.

Figures given to the Public Accounts Committee have also shown that the cost of the pipeline could exceed €10bn in a worst-case risk scenario.

Ahead of the deadline last month for groups and individuals to have their say, the Limerick Greens wrote to Uisce Eireann.

“Our concerns broadly converge around two points: that the transfer to water services eastwards is counter to the principles of regional development and may reduce emphasis on water conservation and sufficiency and secondly, that due consideration has not been given to the environmental impact, particularly on the lower River Shannon,” Limerick Green Party said in their submission.

The party are also concerned that the project could facilitate “further unfettered growth in the greater Dublin area at the expense of the regions”.

“How long will this new supply provide climate resilience if the growth in the east continues at pace,” they asked.

The group also admitted fear that Dublin will return again to the west looking for more water as it expands.

“The current plan only considers the water supply needs up to 2050. Given the significant investment and the ageing infrastructure at Ardnacrusha and Parteen Weir, a longer-term plan should be developed to ensure sustainability for the next 100 years,” the Limerick Greens argued.

Any abstraction of water will have downstream consequences, especially in times of drought, they fear.

“The storage capacity at the Dublin end of the pipe will be 75 megalitres, the daily requirement for Dublin has reached 630 megalitres a day.

This means there is practically no storage capacity, so water will be abstracted at the same rate every day of the year even when the reserves in the Parteen basin are at their lowest in the height of drought,” they state.

Following the closure of the consultation period, it is now envisaged that Uisce Éireann will submit a planning application for the marathon project to An Bord Pleanála.