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The River Shannon to Dublin pipeline, officially the Water Supply Project, Eastern and Midlands Region, is a planned project to bring water from the Parteen Basin on the River Shannon to Peaumont to supply the Dublin region and areas along the route in counties Tipperary, Offaly and Westmeath. [1]
Dublin City Council published a plan in 2011 to supply up to 350 million litres of water a day from Lough Derg to Dublin city and region. In January 2014, Irish Water took over management of the project which is currently in the Planning Stage. In 2016 it was proposed that over two million people will benefit from the water supplying not only Dublin but also an area including Arklow, Athlone, Athy, Carlow, Drogheda, Mullingar, Navan, Portaloise and Tullamore. [2] In 2018 Irish Water announced plans to seek planning permission for the project. [3]
The proposed pipeline was sent for review to the CRU, Irish Water’s economic regulator, amid questions about Irish Water’s leakage targets, whether groundwater was appropriately considered as an alternative to the pipeline, and the cost of the proposal. [4] [5] The CRU completed its final report on the project in June 2024. [6]
In 2024, the project was permitted to seek planning permission by the Irish Government. [7]
Various groups are opposing the pipeline on, among other things, economic and environmental grounds. The River Shannon Protection Alliance, Fight the Pipe and Kennedy Analysis have been the most vocal opponents. [8] One of the key arguments of those objecting to the pipeline is that if Irish Water met its own leakage reduction targets in Dublin there would be no need for the pipeline at all. [9]
Kennedy Analysis appeared before the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government (alongside Irish Water) in April 2018 to debate the proposed pipeline. [10] [11] [12]
Ireland has extremely high levels of leakage - according to Irish Water’s 2015 business plan network leakage alone (i.e. leakage on the distribution side of the network, not including any household leakage) was 49%. [13]
Average leakage in cities around the globe is considerably lower than this – a 2017 KPMG study of 35 studies globally found that average leakage was 10-13%. [14]
In November 2016, the Parteen Basin, which is to the south of the lough, was chosen as the proposed site of extraction. Water would be pumped via Birdhill to a break pressure tank at Knockanacree near Cloughjordan, all in County Tipperary and gravity fed from there to Peamount in Dublin. [15] [16] [17] [18]
Various groups have been formed by those challenging the pipe. [19]
As the proposed extraction of water upstream of the ESB's hydroelectric station at Ardnacrusha may reduce the flow available for the generation of electricity, Irish Water will compensate ESB for any loss. [2]
The River Shannon is the major river on the island of Ireland, and at 360 km in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of 16,900 km2 (6,525 sq mi), – approximately one fifth of the area of Ireland.
Dublin Airport is an international airport serving Dublin, Ireland. It is operated by DAA. The airport is located in Collinstown, 7 km (4.3 mi) north of Dublin, and 3 km (1.9 mi) south of the town of Swords. In 2019, 32.9 million passengers passed through the airport, making it the airport's busiest year on record. It is the 13th busiest airport in Europe, and is the busiest of Ireland's airports by total passenger traffic; it also has the largest traffic levels on the island of Ireland, followed by Belfast International Airport.
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Birdhill is a village in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is in the barony of Owney and Arra and is part of the parish of Newport, Birdhill and Toor in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. Its Irish name was historically anglicised as Knockan or Knockaneeneen.
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