Clare Councillors have been told the planned abstraction of water from the River Shannon to Dublin and areas of the Midlands is ‘in flight’ but not ‘a done deal’.
Elected representatives received a briefing on Irish Water’s plans for the Eastern and Midlands region last evening.
The utility’s plans, which would see it potentially divert millions of litres of water a day from the Parteen Basin on the River Shannon towards the capital, have long been criticised in this county.
Councillors here again voiced their concerns yesterday about the possible environmental and economic impacts of such a move on communities living North and South of Lough Derg.
Water Resources Specialist with Irish Water Angela Ryan informed the meeting that the utility wants ‘greater interconnectivity’ across its supply, with the abstraction just ‘one aspect’ of its plan to do that across 34 separate Water Resource Zones.
Irish Water says while studies on the move have been ongoing for a number of years, it will need to be assessed by the Environmental Protection Agency before it’s officially given the green light.
It’s understood the development will also depend on the progression of new legislation passing through the Oireachtas which has been made a requirement by the European Court of Justice.
Councillors across all parties and geographical areas of Clare made their worries about the potential impact of droughts here should the project go ahead clear, along with suggestions of an imbalance between development in the West and East of the State.
Statutory public consultation for Irish Water’s Regional Resources Plan in the Eastern and Midlands area, of which this potential abstraction is a part of, runs until this Monday, the 14th of March.
