The number of areas of the State experiencing drought conditions has increased to 26 as the spell of warm and dry weather continues, Uisce Éireann has said.
With next to no rainfall due across the country in the coming days, the utility company said water supply remained “on a knife edge” in the Greater Dublin Area. It said average demand there so far this year had been at a record level of more than 630 million litres per day.
“This is close to the limit of what can be sustainably produced by our water treatment infrastructure,” Uisce Éireann said.
The issue in Greater Dublin is not lack of raw water, but production capacity to treat supplies, a spokesman said.
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The region is especially vulnerable to shortages because of persistent supply issues, separate to the drought conditions, but if the dry spell continues, any restrictions that may be deemed necessary will have widespread impact in the region given it is the most populated part of the country.
With fine weather forecast to continue into next week, Uisce Éireann has appealed to consumers to be mindful of their water usage.
A water conservation order, commonly referred to as a hosepipe ban, has been in place for supplies in Mullingar, Co Westmeath; Milford, Co Donegal; and Kells-Oldcastle, Co Meath, since early May.
The 23 supplies in drought status, as determined by Uisce Éireann, are: Ahascragh and Inis Oírr, Co Galway; Ballylaneen, Co Waterford; Buncrana, Letterkenny (Goldrum), Milford and Carrigart-Downings in Co Donegal; Carron (Termon Spring), Co Clare; Coalbrook, Riverstown and Dulla, Co Tipperary; Doon, Oola and Pallasgreen, Co Limerick; Ardnaglass, Co Sligo; Lough Bane, Co Meath; Kinnity, Co Offaly; Portloman, Co Westmeath; Kenmare, Co Kerry; Raheenleigh, Co Carlow; Taylorstown, Co Wexford; and Whitechurch and Clonakilty (Jones Bridge), Co Cork.
There are no immediate plans to extend the hosepipe bans to other areas, but Uisce Éireann is monitoring all supplies closely and taking measures to maintain normal service through interventions such as tankering to reservoirs, night-time restrictions and pressure management.
It is monitoring all of its raw water supplies that feed into its water treatment plants from lakes, rivers, springs and ground sources.
Uisce Éireann’s head of water operations, Margaret Attridge, said that the sunny spell had led to increased water use.
“Levels in many water sources are significantly lower than normal for this time of year following a dryer-than-average autumn, winter and spring,” she said.
“On top of this, the recent spell of warm weather has led to an increase in demand across many of our supplies, putting further pressure on the network and reservoirs.”
Met Éireann is forecasting no rain over the weekend, with temperatures set to increase to 25 degrees in some areas by Sunday. Minimal amounts of rain are forecast up to next weekend, though more substantial falls may occur by Sunday week.
Paul Moore, a Met Éireann climatologist, said no records had been broken for prolonged dry spells yet but rainfall this spring had averaged 50 per cent of the norm.
Three of the forecaster’s 25 weather stations have recorded a dry spell of 19-21 days, while seven had seen an “absolute drought” of less than 0.2mm of rain over 18-20 days.
