Irish Water adopts 25-year plan for midland and east supplies

A plan governing water management in the eastern and midlands region over the coming 25 years has been adopted by Irish Water – but the document warns that in much of the region, supply demand balance deficits already exist.

The Regional Water Resources Plan, Eastern and Midlands (RWRP-EM), is aimed at safeguarding public health, supporting growth and meeting the challenges of climate change across the east and midlands region over the next quarter century.

The plan is the first of four regional plans to have completed public consultation and passed the adoption stage.

The four regional plans are, when completed, to form the National Water Resources Plan (NWRP), which Irish Water is describing as the country’s first 25-year strategic plan enabling a move towards safe, secure, reliable, and sustainable public water supplies for all customers and communities, while safeguarding public health and the environment.

The Eastern and Midlands region runs from Louth to Wicklow, and comprises 134 individual water supplies known as water resource zones (WRZs).

“Two-thirds of those have a supply demand balance (SDB) deficit, even in normal weather conditions,” warns Irish Water, warning that existing supplies do not meet current or future needs in terms of source availability, water treatment plant capacity or demand growth requirements.

“This means that customers can experience interruptions to supply, particularly during extreme weather events.

“It also means that Irish Water will have difficulty supporting projected growth and economic development in these areas.”

The firm says that at present, in most areas it is facilitating capacity for growth through network improvements and proactive leakage reduction, but those measures alone will not resolve the issues with supplies over the medium-to-long term.

Across the region, Irish Water currently abstracts from 209 different water sources and has 201 water treatment plants (WTPs), all of which need to be maintained and operated in a sustainable way.

Surface water abstractions make up 87% of the water delivered to customers from rivers or lakes, and the remaining 13% is from groundwater sources.

The plan states: “The availability of water is anticipated to change over the 25-year planning period due to climate change with water availability increasing during autumn/winter and decreasing during the summer,” adding that precipitation responsible for the recharge of groundwater and surface water sources could increase by 5-35% during the autumn and winter months, while summer precipitation could decrease by 0-30%.”

The firm states that the types of solutions that Irish Water uses to address the supply needs issues can be categorised under three ‘Pillars’; Lose Less, Use Less and Supply Smarter.

Máiréad Conlon, Regional Water Treatment Planning specialist with Irish Water, said: “Safeguarding Ireland’s precious water resources is a top priority for Irish Water. With increasing pressure to meet the current demand for water as a result of population growth, climate change, and our changing environmental regulations, it is essential that we plan ahead.

"The Regional Water Resources Plan – Eastern and Midlands will enable us to do that in a sustainable way, while also supporting economic development and population growth across the region.

“How we choose to plan our water resources today will determine the water supply we can provide now and into the future.”

During the public consultation, 64 submissions in total were received, including responses from the Office of the Planning Regulator, the Southern Regional Assembly and local authorities in relation to national and regional policy for growth and development.