Fresh calls for review of plan to pump local water to Dublin region

THE RIVER Shannon Protection Alliance (RSPA) has called on the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien to conduct an independent review of the Shannon Pipeline Project.

If plans for the Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region get the go-ahead, it will deliver a new source of water supply to address water supply demand deficits in the Dublin region.

Uisce Éireann are proposing the project to pump water from the River Shannon at the Parteen Basin (Birdhill) to Dublin, a distance of 172km. It is proposed to take in excess of 330 litres of water daily from Lough Derg.

According to the RSPA, this will have a negative ecological impact on the Region, they also believe that “diverting Shannon Water to Dublin is unnecessary and a complete waste of taxpayers money”.

“The Dublin area and its growing population are serviced by Victorian era pipes which leak badly. Leakage estimates from Dublin area pipes range from between 37% and 57% daily. Uisce Eireann is currently claiming leaks are down to 33%, but no underlying data has been supplied by them to verify this figure,” Kay Mullane of the RSPA said.

“Uisce Eireann plans an environmentally dubious, and wasteful €1.65bn (current estimate) scheme to divert water from the Shannon to Dublin. It's a waste of taxpayers' money, and risks serious harm to a river at the heart of the nation.

“Diverting the river Shannon water is absurd, especially if approximately half the water never reaches the taps of Dublin. We are calling for the €1.65bn budget to be reallocated to kick start a Mains Pipe Replacement Programme for Dublin. It will be at least ten years before the pipeline is built, is there to be no mains pipes replacement Programme in place during that period,” she added.

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According to Uisce Éireann, the River Liffey supplies 85% of the water requirements for 1.7 million people in the Dublin area.

This dependency on the Liffey (and the two main treatment plants of Ballymore Eustace and Leixlip) results in a serious vulnerability to risks such as prolonged drought and/or contamination. Exposure to this key vulnerability is endured daily and can only be addressed through a new water source for the Eastern and Midlands Region.

The application for the pipeline, seeking approval in principle, for the project to proceed to planning has been submitted to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage under the Public Spending Code Guidelines.

Uisce Éireann is awaiting the outcome of that process.