Irish Water To Push Ahead With Plans To Extract Water From The River Shannon

Irish Water has announced that it’s going ahead with controversial plans to bring water from the River Shannon to Dublin and the Midlands.

The 1-point-3 billion euro pipeline will supply 40 percent of the population within the next 7 years, if it’s given to go ahead by An Bord Pleanala.

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Irish Water says it’s now “satisfied beyond doubt” that it’s preferred option to deliver water to the eastern and midlands region is the correct one and that delivery of the scheme is “critical for the future”.

The plans will see water taken from the Parteen basin and pumped up to 170 kilometres to the Midlands and Greater Dublin area.

The utility says it will bring the “widest benefit to the greatest number of people with the least environmental impact and in the most cost effective manner”.

Irish Water will now lodge planning permission with An Bord Pleanala and if given the go-ahead, the project will be the first major comprehensive upgrade to Ireland’s water infrastructure in the region in over 60 years.

But the project could be facing further delays as the laws governing water extraction here have yet to be updated.

There has been strong opposition locally towards the project, amid fears over the impact on communities living on the Northern side of Lough Derg.

While, critics say the money would be better spent repairing leaks in the capital.