THERE IS no denying that a new water supply infrastructure will be required for Dublin and the east coast. The capacity of existing storage reservoirs in Wicklow and Dublin are under strain and climate change, with dryer summers, could cause the system to break down.
That is why, for the past seven years, Dublin City Council has been attempting to secure approval for the abstraction of water from the river Shannon. Not surprisingly, local interests along the river have objected strenuously to the damage this may cause to the environment, to local tourism and to future industrial development there.
A number of concessions have already resulted from local opposition. A plan to take water from Lough Ree, above Athlone, was dropped in favour of a downstream abstraction point at Lough Derg. Then Bord na Móna got involved and offered to build a reservoir on cutaway bog in the midlands in order to minimise water abstraction during dry periods and to supply nine local authorities. This investment, including job creation and the development of an eco-water park, would position the semi-State company to become involved in a new national water utility proposed by Government.
The Shannon may be an obvious and easily accessible source of water for the Dublin region but that does not mean the current plan is the best one. An original study favoured the pipeline over a desalinisation plant chiefly on the basis of projected carbon dioxide emissions. But the development of wind farms in the Irish Sea as alternative sources of power could negate that consideration by the time water pipelines and a reservoir are due to be completed in 2020.
Concerns of local people over the effects of water abstraction are deeply held. The ESB has warned it will seek compensation if hydroelectric generating capacity at Ardnacrusha, the outfall of Lough Derg, is affected. There is a clear belief that, in dry weather and notwithstanding any official undertakings, Dublin’s water requirements will take precedence over local interests. One way of addressing such concerns would be to move the abstraction point farther downstream, towards sea level, so as to minimise the impact on the river and local communities. Another would be to increase the number and capacity of reservoirs that could be filled during the winter months. In that case, Bord na Móna owns at least two suitable bogs. A desalinisation plant operated by renewable energy remains an option. Dublin’s gain should not be another community’s loss.