Uisce Éireann opens consultation on Shannon to Dublin pipeline

Uisce Éireann has launched a public consultation on a water supply project for the eastern and midlands region, which will see water pumped from the River Shannon into the Dublin area.

Uisce Éireann said the project will be one of the largest infrastructure projects in the history of the state, with capacity to address the water supply needs for up to 50% of the state’s population.

The water authority said that the “once-in-a-generation” project will the first major “new-source” water infrastructure in the region in the last 60 years.

The project will deliver a source of water supply to support the country’s growing population and economy, including the demand for housing, Uisce Éireann said.

The consultation will be open until March 4, in advance of Uisce Éireann’s submission of the planning application to An Bord Pleanála.

The ‘Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region’ proposes to abstract water from Parteen Basin, upstream of Parteen Weir on the lower River Shannon, utilising a maximum of 2% of the long term average flow at Parteen Basin.

It is proposed that the water will be treated near Birdhill, Co. Tipperary and treated water will then be piped 170km through counties Tipperary, Offaly and Kildare to a termination point reservoir at Peamount in Co. Dublin, connecting into the Greater Dublin Area water distribution network.

Uisce Éireann said that the project will provide counties Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow with a “resilient, safe, secure water supply”.

It will also create a treated water supply “spine” across the country, providing infrastructure with the capacity for future offtakes to serve communities along the route in counties Tipperary, Offaly, and Westmeath, according to the water authority.

Uisce Éireann also said that the project will enable supplies currently serving Dublin to be redirected back to counties Louth, Meath, Kildare, Carlow and Wicklow. Uisce Éireann claimed that this will “support growth and regional development”.

As part of the consultation, Uisce Éireann will host a number of public information open days at key locations, and online via webinars.

These information sessions are scheduled as follows:

Commenting on the project, Maria O’Dwyer, director of infrastructure at Uisce Éireann, said: “Water supply in the Eastern and Midlands region faces a number of serious challenges, notably the over-reliance on the River Liffey to supply 1.7 million people in the Greater Dublin Area.

“With forecasts showing that the region will need 34% more water by 2044 than is available today, this combination of a growing water supply deficit and lack of supply resilience is simply not sustainable,” O’Dwyer added.

However, concerns over the project have been expressed by one TD in relation to its necessity, viability and cost.

Independent TD for Offaly (and for Laois-Offaly prior to the last election) Carol Nolan said: “We know that this plan from Uisce Éireann has been subject of major concerns and indeed outright alarm by farmers and landowners since 2018 and that it why it is absolutely critical that they engage with [the consultation].

Nolan said that there are “major concerns” that the project may involve compulsory purchase orders being used on farmland. She called on Uisce Éireann to “meet those concerns head-on and to provide guarantees that this will not happen”.

“I also have huge concerns around the proposed cost, which was estimated, prior to construction inflation increases, at well over €1.2 billion a number of years ago.

“My concern here is based on the clear evidence that the state and its statutory bodies have an almost unique capacity to make a hames of key infrastructure projects, alongside an apparent inability to do anything without massively ballooning the cost to the taxpayer,” Nolan remarked.