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Shannon water for Dublin?

Wednesday, 21 July 2010

GARRYHINCH Bog in Co. Offaly and a major storage reservoir there could be the answer to Dublin's water shortage, according to a statement released by Dublin City Council late Monday, which foresees water being extracted from Lough Derg as the answer to the capital's water shortage.
In a controversial recommendation, consultants for Dublin City Council, RPS and Veolia Water are suggesting a new eco-park in the midlands that could store water for the Midlands and Dublin, provide 1,000 construction jobs for three years and ongoing jobs, as well as a new tourism amenity for the Midlands.
The proposal will go before Dublin City Council's Strategic Policy Committee on Thursday at Dublin City Hall.
The project estimated at ?540 million has received a commitment from Bord na Mona, owners of the Garryhinch Bog.
Martin McEvoy of The Shannon Protection Group says its scientists and engineers will examine the report in depth, before it makes an informed response to Monday's announcement.
“If Dublin takes the surplus water from the Shannon, if any of the counties want to develop in the future and the surplus water is gone, how are those counties going to develop into the future if we don't have the necessary water," he said. "We've all the lakes we need. We don't need another. We're dammed if we're going to stand idly by."
“If they proceed with this they will start a Civil War - without the guns," PJ Walsh of the group told The Voice earlier on Monday. "I wouldn't let them put a straw in the Shannon. Not a bucket. Once they start there's no end."
The group is made up of boating enthusiasts, anglers and farmers who vehemently oppose Dublin City Council's efforts to extract the water here in the Midlands. It says it is not swayed by the study being presented and favouring using the Shannon River for Dublin's water supply."Our children or our grandchildren coming up behind us will not thank us if we don't stand up," chairman Martin McEvoy said. "It's the Shannon peoples' resource. It belongs to the people that live along the Shannon or use it. We need to protect it."The newest proposal by Dublin is said to benefit nine counties, including the four Dublin local authority areas. The reservoir water would be taken from Lough Derg during periods of flood and high waters only. It would then be stored at the new water eco-park and could be used during periods of low flow. The statement notes the average amount of water from Lough Derg would be 2%, which currently flows into the Atlantic ocean daily and is replenished with rain falling on the catchment area. The consultants suggest the eco-park would be similar to the UK Rutland Water and Eco-park in East Anglia.
Sen. Nicky McFadden admits she has done a u-turn on considering extracting water from the Shannon.
“I am very conscious of the flooding last year and the amount of water we have here," she said on Monday. "After what I saw and experienced last year there was such devastation. If there was a way for it to be done sensibly, maybe a way to take our excess water without disturbing our fabulous resource, well then I think it's worth investigating."
McFadden and O'Rourke views
The Senator says she is very concerned about the flora, fauna and fishing amenities that take place on the Shannon. However, she feels it's worth at least looking into before determining what steps should be taken by Dublin.
TD Mary O'Rourke strongly disagrees and says she maintains her position in opposing Dublin City Council's proposal.
“There's no such thing as taking sensitively," she said. "That is an erroneous suggestion."
Mary O'Rourke says the water is to be extracted daily, in winter and summer. She added that Dublin City Council has made no efforts to try and plug leaks in the Greater Dublin area to conserve their water usage. Depleting the Shannon of a minimum of 350 million litres of water a day would be catastrophic.
“That would just absolutely cut our complete tourism business on the river Shannon," she said. "It will also seriously erode the fauna, (flora and fishing)."
Both Mary O'Rourke and PJ Walsh say Dublin City Council needs to address its current water problems, before looking to the Shannon for a solution. Both say current leaks are not being address by Dublin and were they, it would provide other options than the Shannon.
PJ says the move is a political and monetary one and not one based on practicality.
“They have destroyed the Liffey, the Vartry, the Dodder, the Nore and the Barrow. Now they want to do the same to the Shannon," he said. "It they fixed their leaks, but it's politically inconvenient to dig up the streets in Ballsbridge and Foxrock."
People power, he added, along with the 83 TDs in the Shannon region are what will save the Shannon.
Dublin City Council sees the Shannon as its solution to a depleting drinking water source. The region consists of about 1.5 million people and includes large sections of counties Wicklow, Kildare and Meath, in addition to the four Dublin local authorities that make up the former Dublin City and County administrative areas. A new water source will be required after 2016, by which time a growing population and industrial growth will have exhausted all available resources. Dublin City Council has known of the impending shortage for years and that supplies at the Vartry reservoir in the Wicklow Mountains won't suffice. Extracting water from the River Liffey is also reaching its maximum.
A potential resource that runs from North Co. Offaly to Dublin is bubbling up from an underground aquifer. That source provides good quality drinking water. However, Dublin's Fingal County Council applied for planning permission to build a landfill in 2006. The 57 hectares disposal area, and the entire site covers 153 hectares. Around €35m has been spent on the project, which will eventually cost ?60m. The site will operate for up to 30 years. The Environmental Protection Agency gave its approval to the ?60 million facility in May. It will process up to 300,000 tonnes of waste annually.
The Shannon Protection Group wonders why Dublin won't consider desalination of the water. The groups undertaking the current reports for Dublin City Council were responsible for bringing desalination to London. Why can't they do so for Dublin, he wonders?
“It would be a minimum of 350 million litres of water a day. It's going to have a huge adverse affect on the eco system," Martin warns. "It doesn't make sense for Dublin to be coming down to the Midlands to take water while they have options."
The extraction, he and others believe, will also impact heavily on tourism in the Midlands as well as fishing and industry.
18 county councils situated along the Shannon
Martin says 18 county councils are situated along the River Shannon and want to ensure drinking water sources are available for their residents. Taking the water will damage the water levels of the Shannon and in turn affect any potential industrial development in the midlands area.
The new report to be discussed by Dublin City Council is reported to have found there is no alternative other than taking water from the Shannon to service the greater Dublin region. Options supported by the opposition groups are also said to be unsustainable.
An Environmental Impact Statement will be undertaken before planning application is made to An Bord Pleanala who will decide on the project's viability. Further "and full statutory public consultation" is also to take place.

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