Shannon Callows residents 'extremely worried' about rising flood waters
The residents and farmers living in the Shannon Callows region are “extremely worried” about rising flood waters following a prolonged period of inclement weather over the last couple of weeks.
In a statement sent to The Midland Tribune this week, The Save Our Shannon organisation pointed out that severe flooding has once again hit the Shannon Callows, with the result that farming activities have been curtailed, water is covering farmland, appearing in farmyards and coming closer to homes.
The group said that as the heavy rainfall continues to fall, locals in the region are comparing this continuous rain to the flooding event of 2009, when rain began to fall heavily in October and continued for a number of weeks into November. “At that time,” said the group's statement, “the various agencies in control of the flow of water in the Shannon were totally unprepared. We in SOS are now asking the following question: how prepared are these agencies today?”
The agencies they are referring to are the ESB, Waterways Ireland, various County Councils and the OPW.
The group says that sluices and gates were not opened in time or in sequence in 2009, and are wondering if they have been opened yet during the current flooding event.
“Water was not released,” continues the group, “through Parteen Villa or Ardnacrusha early enough in 2009 to ease flooding in areas such as Banagher, Shannonbridge and Athlone. When flood water was eventually released severe flooding occurred in areas such as Cloonlara, O’Briens Bridge, Castleconnell and Limerick. As of now, has the maximum amount of water (without causing flooding) been released through Ardnacrusha and Parteen Villa yet?”
Since 2009 the members of the Save Our Shannon Organisation have been recommending three main courses of action:
1. Create a single authority to control the flow of water in the Shannon.
2. Reduce the level of water in the three main lakes on the Shannon in order to provide storage for flood waters.
3. Remove the “pinchpoints” in the Shannon Callows area that are restricting the natural flow of water in times of flooding.
SOS says not one of these recommendations has been implemented during the last 13 years.
Severe flooding occurred in November 2009, December 2015, January 2016 and again in February 2020. The same pattern of events is once again occuring in 2022. “We are facing severe flooding,” continued SOS, “with residents and farmers extremely worried about their livelihoods, their homes, land and stock, their outbuildings and their ability to travel to work and school.
“In January 2020 we were promised that €7 million would be spent in removing 'pinchpoints' between Athlone and Meelick. Not one ounce of silt has been removed in the intervening years to mitigate flooding.
“In recent years work has been done in urban areas to prevent houses being flooded (Athlone and Banagher). While we welcome this development in urban areas, absolutely nothing has been done for the residents and farmers in the rural areas from Athlone to Meelick who continuously face the horrors of flooding.
“In view of the impending flooding situation these main questions are now critical. What has the OPW, the ESB, Waterways Ireland, OPW and the various County Councils along the river done to prepare for and alleviate these floods? We would appreciate an immediate response from them."