SPA opposes Shannon extraction

The Shannon Protection Alliance is calling on the government to prevent proposals to extract water from the river Shannon from going ahead.


Minister for the environment John Gormley is to receive an appeal from the group, claiming that irreparable damage would be caused to the river should the plans go ahead.

The Althon Herald reports that a meeting with the Shannon Protection Alliance (SPA), Dublin City Council and consultants Rural Planning Solutions prompted the reaction from the campaigning group.

Some 350m litres of water is expected to be taken from the river every day as part of a programme of using desalinated water from the Irish Sea in order to tackle Dublin’s water shortage.

PJ Walsh, public relations officer for the SPA, said: “If we interfere with nature on a big scale we are going to pay a big price.

“Levels in the lake and river this year are at least two feet below what they should be, even without any extraction.

“As I see it water levels will be so low in five years that the Shannon will be no use.”

The river travels 200 miles from its source to the sea and is home to more than a dozen lakes and over a hundred islands.

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