CALLS are being made for Limerick City and County Council to lodge a formal objection to plans by Uisce Éireann to extract over 300 million litres of water a day from the River Shannon to Dublin, with fears the move will reduce water flow in Limerick to “a trickle”.
The River Shannon Protection Alliance (RSPA), one of the main groups opposed to the plan, called for Limerick Council to lodge a formal objecting, stating that Clare County Council and Tipperary County Councils are set to lodge their own objections on the grounds that the drainage plans will cause “major ecological damage to wildlife and fish on Lough Derg”.
A special meeting of Limerick City Council to discuss the matter was requested last month by Aontú Councillor Sarah Beasley, who said she secured support from other councillors to address “growing concerns” about the proposal.
Under Limerick’s National Development Plan, the Council has committed to “preserve and protect the integrity of any European site from inappropriate development”.
The issue was due to be discussed at a meeting earlier this month, but the meeting was postponed until March – well after the closing date for submissions and objections on the drainage plans on February 25.
Plans for the 172km steel pipeline were submitted last December from the River Shannon at the Parteen Basin near Lough Derg on to the Midlands Eastern and Greater Dublin area.
The site of the abstraction of the 330 million litres of water daily at the Parteen basin in the Lower Shannon is a European designated site a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).
Earlier this week, the RSPA held a meeting in Limerick on the issue. The group claim the project “is not necessary” and echo claims by other local authorities in the region that the plan “will damage water flows to Limerick and major ecological damage to Lough Derg and the River Shannon”.
The group also claims Dublin is currently losing up to 50 per cent of its water because of “leaking Victorian pipes”.
Limerick’s water supply is already under strain and its wastewater treatment needs a substantial upgrade, the RSPA said.
The group’s senior project manager and environmentalist, Elaine Doyle, said that if the project gets planning, it will cut the water flow to Limerick to “a trickle” in summer months.
Ms Doyle maintains the main problem is that when water is needed in the Greater Dublin area during the summer, it is also needed in the Shannon.
“If droughts are now frequent and severe enough to threaten Dublin’s supply, they are severe enough to threaten the Shannon system when extra water is taken out. The paradox at the heart of Uisce Éireann’s plan is this: the climate evidence used to justify the pipeline – increasing drought, reduced recharge, hydrological stress – is evidence that no surplus water exists in the River Shannon to be taken,” she added.
In response, Uisce Éireann said the pipeline was a “critical infrastructure project” and would provide a “resilient, safe, and secure water supply with capacity to address the water supply needs for up to 50 per cent of the population”.
It argued the project was also “critical to the delivery of housing and growth” nationally. It said it submitted environmental impact assessment reports as part of its planning application.
“We need a new sustainable source of water alongside continued leakage reduction. Fixing leaks is essential, but it’s only part of the solution,” the company said.
It said it planned to “secure a new source of water from the River Shannon at Parteen Basin, abstracting a maximum of two per cent of the long term annual average flow of the River Shannon at Parteen Basin”.
Uisce Éireann added water levels would remain “unchanged and undiminished under this proposal” and there would be a “neutral effect” on water quality.
Local fisherman and boatman, Kevin Hannan, frequents the river around University of Limerick and as far as the mouth of River Mulkear on a regular basis. He is also backing claims that, if the proposal goes ahead, it will turn the River Shannon “into a trickle” in Limerick.
Speaking to the Limerick Post, Mr Hannan said: “The county is already experiencing drought conditions every two years because of climate change, and it’s getting worse. If this plan is approved, our water flow in Limerick will be very, very bad and we’ll be wondering where all our water has gone.”
“If something goes wrong, it’s Limerick where it’s going to show the most, because if you can imagine the amount of water that will go through Limerick … it actually will be dirty water we get.
“I know work is underway to try and clean the water, but in the meantime, the river in Limerick is badly polluted. I wouldn’t be swimming in it and certainly I wouldn’t be drinking from it,” Mr Hannan added.
Limerick Council was contacted for comment, but none was forthcoming at the time of going to print.