Dublin awaits go-ahead for Shannon water extraction

DUBLIN City Council is looking for the go-ahead to take 350 million litres of water per day from the River Shannon to serve the capital’s drinking water needs for the next 70 years.

The controversial proposal, which will cost about €500m, must get Dublin City Council approval before it seeks Government approval and permission from An Bord Pleanála. But, it does not require the permission of any local authority in the Shannon Region.
The proposal was one of several options put forward in a 2006 report commissioned by the council from consultant engineers RPS to meet the Dublin region’s ever-growing demands for water. The Dublin region, which encompasses parts of Kildare and Wicklow, uses about 540m litres a day, but is only able to produce 518m litres. Dublin city manager John Tierney said this week that the new water source would not only serve household water needs but would be vital to attracting businesses to the region.
The River Shannon proposal has met strong opposition from communities in the region, including the Shannon Protection Alliance Group, which includes boating enthusiasts, anglers and farmers, which was also established in 2007 to oppose the scheme.
Several proposals for taking water from the River Shannon for Dublin have been considered but the one expected to be put to city councillors involves piping water from one of the Shannon lakes, either Lough Derg or Lough Ree, or a combination of both lakes, to a disused Bord na Móna bog in the midlands, where it would be stored in the form of an artificial lake, from where water would be taken by pipe to Dublin.
Mr Tierney said the River Shannon was a national resource.
“We see this as a national project. If water is brought from the Shannon to Dublin, it will provide for economic growth. Dublin is crucially important as the economic driver of the country,” Mr Tierney. He said that the extraction of 350m litres of water daily from the Shannon would have no detrimental effects on the river or on water supplies for counties surrounding the Shannon.
He also said that the 350m litres represents a maximum of just 3% of the water flowing out of the Shannon water sources every day.
Last year, the ESB warned that it would seek compensation if the extraction of water from Lough Derg during non-flood periods resulted in a loss of generation capacity and revenue. They stressed that the proposed extraction of water from the Shannon of 350m litres per day amounts to approximately 2.2% of the long-term average flow in the river at Killaloe.
Concerns have also been raised about the possible detrimental effect it would have on Lough Derg and the Lower River Shannon, as well as a negative impact on the navigational flow, fish life and ecology of Lough Derg, which would in turn would hit angling and boating, which are major tourist attractions for Killaloe and surrounding villages in East Clare.