Iris writes*
Dublin faces severe water insecurities, with the droughts of 2018 being a good example. Extreme droughts had let the Poulaphouca reservoir to run down so much, that remnants of the old village were laid bare. To address this problem, Irish Water has been looking into new water sources. The current idea is to abstract water from the River Shannon at the Parteen Basin and connect it with a pipeline that will supply Dublin. The Shannon project, also known as The Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region, has been subject to quite a bit of criticism, especially coming from groups Fight the Pipe and the River Shannon Protection Alliance. In this blogpost, I will explain what their concerns are and what Irish Water’s perspective on these points is.
Firstly, opponents believe that the project is not needed to address supply issues effectively. This belief is supported by the Kennedy Analysis, independent research conducted pro-bono by Emma Kennedy, a corporate lawyer. According to Kennedy [pdf], the real problem is the high leakage rates and malfunctioning treatment plants, not the supply of raw water. Malcolm Noonan, Green Party Minister, defended the project, saying that it is not only needed to address current needs. In the future, population growth and climate change will bring more tension to water supply and demand, and the Shannon Project is supposed to account for these ahead in time. Having said that, Irish Water does claim it is working on the issues raised by Kennedy, having invested €500 million on reducing leakages over the last four years.
Secondly, farmers are concerned that the construction of the pipeline will have detrimental effects on their lands, that will be cut up during this period. The width of the corridor of the project will be 50 meters. This comes down to a total of 2,000 acres that will be destroyed for this project. According to Liam Minnehan, a Tipperary farmer, the trouble will not be over after the construction phase, as the soil will be damaged permanently, making it impossible for farmers to make use of the land. Irish Water, on the other hand, states that they are minimizing these impacts with a Code of Practice for Construction Working on Lands that was created in cooperation with farming organizations IFA and ICMSA. Furthermore, each landowner has been assigned a Landowner Liaison Officers who assesses potential negative impacts of the pipeline construction for the farmers. For any damages that remain, both permanent and during construction, landowners will be compensated.
Lastly, there are concerns about the costs. The project was in the beginning estimated at €1.2 billion. Now, Irish Water has already announced that it will most likely exceed €1.3 billion. According to Kennedy [pdf], this comes down to more than €1,000 per family in Ireland. However, one might argue that it is worth the money as it will bring more security and make Dublin’s water system future proof, especially considering the numerous industries that are water intensive in Ireland.
Bottom Line: For the Shannon Project to succeed, it is necessary to build on prior effort, to find further synergies between Irish Water and opposition groups.
* Please help my Water Scarcity students by commenting on unclear analysis, alternative perspectives, better data sources, or maybe just saying something nice 🙂