Stark warning: Dublin faces citywide water shortages within five years
Uisce Éireann has warned water shortages will hit 'all customers' in Dublin in 'the next five years' due to 'critical' infrastructure issues.
The chief executive of the utility, Niall Gleeson, has written to Housing Minister James Browne seeking 'an urgent meeting' over the matter.
Mr Gleeson fears a multibillion-euro proposal to pump water from the River Shannon into the Greater Dublin Area to meet growing demand could be delayed for several years by planning objections from environmentalists. Housing Minister James Browne. Pic: Sam Boal/Collins
He pointed to plans for a new wastewater plant that was expected to be operational this year, but now won't be delivered until 2032.
In correspondence released to Extra.ie under Freedom of Information legislation, the Uisce Éireann boss said that issues with the supply of water in Dublin have become so dire that a drought in the Liffey today would result in immediate water restrictions.
Extra.ie has previously revealed that thousands of new homes in Dublin are at risk because Uisce Éireann (Irish Water) needs tens of billions in investment. Niall Gleeson. Pic: Sasko Lazarov / © RollingNews.ie
But the delivery of new homes is not the only serious problem emerging from Ireland's creaking water infrastructure.
Mr Gleeson said the issues will affect 'not just the new housing targets but current and future foreign direct investment' in Dublin and across the country.
He wrote: 'Significant population and economic growth over and above forecasts in the GDA (Greater Dublin Area) in the last three years means that there will be a shortage of water for all customers within the next five years. Greater Dublin. Pic: Getty Images
'This shortage can only be adequately addressed by prioritising the delivery of the Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region (WSP).'
The WSP will see water from the Shannon piped 170 km through counties Tipperary, Offaly, and Kildare to a reservoir at Peamount in Dublin, connecting into the GDA water supply network.
The Department of Housing estimates that the project could cost over €10 billion. But Mr Gleeson has raised fears the WSP will run into significant planning delays. He referenced the Greater Dublin Drainage Project (GDD), which provides for a new wastewater treatment plant in Clonshaugh. The office of An Bord Pleanála in Dublin. Pic: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos
It has been in planning for six years, with the original consent quashed 'on one ground only, over which Uisce Éireann had no control', and which related to a consultation between An Bord Pleanála and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
This, he said, was 'a direct consequence of the overly complex multiple consenting regime in Ireland'
The planning application was lodged in 2018, and the project was expected to be 'complete and operational by 2025'.
However, he added: 'As a result of the ongoing planning delays, we now believe that, at best, the project may be delivered and operational by 2032.'
Mr Gleeson then warned that he fears the same problems will befall the WSP. He said: 'Given the issues experienced on the GDD project, we are concerned that the WSP will suffer similar delays and will be tied up for years in the consenting processes.'
However, a spokeswoman for the EPA said that An Bord Pleanála had not fulfilled its obligations to seek the agency's views on the DDP.
She told Extra.ie: 'The judgment in this case did not identify any shortcomings or omissions by the EPA. Uisce Éireann has submitted an application to the EPA, which is currently under review.
'A final decision will be made by the EPA on this licence once the necessary planning decision has been made.'
A spokesman for Irish Water said the supply in the GDA is on a 'knife edge'. He said this may result in 'water conservation orders (hosepipe bans) or supply restrictions', particularly during periods of drought/high demand.
He added: 'This is an unsustainable situation and is a symptom of the critical need to develop a new source of supply.'
On housing, Mr Gleeson said it is estimated that to meet housing targets of 50,000 units per year, Irish Water would need an additional € 1.7 billion in a 'nationally multi-annual ring-fenced fund for housing and growth'.
He added: 'Our projects are of national importance and without them there will be significant curtailment of the State's housing programme despite our best efforts'.
A spokesman for the Department of Housing said that 'while there are risks to water supply until the Eastern and Midlands Water Supply Project is completed in the early 2030s, Uisce Éireann will take all possible action to maintain supply and support new connections'.
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