A SPECIAL meeting of Limerick City and County Council is expected to take place in the coming weeks amid growing concerns over plans to abstract over 300 million litres of water a day from the River Shannon to Dublin.
Uisce Éireann applied to An Coimisiún Pleanála for planning permission last December to build a 172km steel pipeline for drinking water from the River Shannon at the Parteen Basin near Lough Derg on to the Midlands Eastern and Greater Dublin area.
The Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region is to be the largest-ever water project in Irish history with an estimated cost of between €4.58billion and €5.96bn.
A seven-week statutory public consultation process is open for submissions and objections until February 25.
Aontú Councillor for Limerick City North, Sarah Beasley, says she has secured support from other councillors to hold a special meeting to address “growing concerns” about the proposed project.
“This project has significant implications for our region, and it’s vital that our Council has the opportunity to thoroughly examine all aspects before any further progress is made. The people of Limerick deserve to have their voices heard on a matter of this magnitude,” Cllr Beasley said.
Ms Beasley also claims that the project “raises serious concerns for Limerick’s future development and highlights a fundamental inequality in infrastructure investment”.
It’s hoped the meeting will provide an opportunity for councillors to receive detailed briefings, question officials and stakeholders, debate the Council’s position, and consider formal motions on the matter.
Environmental Trust Ireland (ETI), a Limerick-based independent environmental protection organisation, has also come out in strong opposition of the plans.
ETI president Michelle Hayes, of Hayes Solicitors on Glentworth Street, made a submission claiming that if the pipeline plan is approved, it “will have far reaching destructive consequences for the majestic River Shannon in Limerick everything downstream towards the coast, including Foynes, Glin, and Tarbet”.
“The water levels in the River Shannon can be very low when the ESB abstracts water for its hydroelectric power station at Ardnacrusha. In the summer months where there is no rainfall for several days, the water levels in the River Shannon can be extremely low. The aquatic destruction that will occur if the water is diverted to Dublin would be very detrimental. Dolphins have been visitors in the River Shannon in Limerick City near Shannon Bridge”, the submission read.
Cllr Sarah Beasley is now calling for infrastructure elsewhere, specifically in Dublin, to be fixed first, before considering the current Shannon submission.
“Newcastle West is a stark example, where wastewater treatment plant upgrades are not expected until 2031, blocking housing and business development in the meantime. Environmental groups have warned the pipeline could harm the Shannon’s delicate ecosystem, threaten migratory fish species like salmon and eels, damage tourism around Lough Derg, and potentially cause the river to dry up during drought conditions,” she said.
The logic is completely backwards. You don’t build a €10billion pipeline to pump water into a system that’s haemorrhaging a third of it through broken pipes. That’s like pouring water into a bucket with holes in it.”
According to the planning report, compiled by Tom Phillips Associates, Uisce Éireann says the proposed project aims to provide a sustainable water supply from a new Shannon source to address critical supply issues in the greater Dublin area and to provide the capacity to meet the supply needs of multiple water resource zones in the region.
If planning is approved, the project could have the capacity to deliver water to meet the projected peak deficit of 280 million litres per day of treated water by 2050.