ONE of the expected results of the use of domestic water meters, due to be installed in all households in the coming years, is that people will use less water, already a costly resource that could become scarce before we realise it.
The need to protect our rivers and lakes, which supply 83% of the people with water, is another good reason for conserve the water we take out of the system. Given the high cost of producing water and making it potable, we can no longer afford to waste it.
Environment Minister John Gormley’s target is to have 1.1 million meters installed by 2012, which looks very ambitious. Considering the sheer scale of the task, some people are questioning its practicality and are asking if it will be possible to have all those installations completed in that time.
Another way of cutting down on our national, multi-billion euro water bill would be to use rain water for, say, tasks such as the watering of plants and the use of low-flow showers and toilets in our homes.
Water storage is also something that needs to be looked at more seriously and various alternatives to dams are already being investigated. In the not-too-distant past, many people had barrels and troughs at the corners of their houses to catch water from the chutes. Nowadays, there are more sophisticated ways of tapping into such water and it’s something we will be hearing a lot more about, of necessity.
A major dilemma facing the country is that whilst the biggest demand for water comes from Dublin and the east coast, it is the west coast that has the highest rainfall throughout the year — at least 25% more than the east.
According to a report on the greater Dublin area water supply production from sources should by now have now reached a sustainable limit. New supplies need to be in operation as early as 2012, and not later than 2015, if water rationing and curtailment of economic growth are to be avoided.
All of that is engaging the minds of various experts who are also taking into account predictions by the Community Climate Change Consortium that Ireland will have warmer drier summers and warmer wetter winters.
That could also mean that we could have our annual rainfall over a shorter, more intense period, which could have an effect on our ability to extract water.
Dr Ciarán O’Byrne and Dr Ciara O’Leary, of Inland Fisheries Ireland, have asked if our water system can cope with increased amounts of rainfall in a monsoon-style flood. And, if a large amount of rain falls in fewer days, are we likely to see prolonged drought conditions at other times of the year? Which, of course, brings us back to the entire issue of the future need for water storage.
The growth in population, coupled with industrialisation and other water-dependent development, has resulted in growing demand for water. Extraction from rivers and lakes reduces water levels, with adverse effects on plants and other life, as well as reducing habitat.
Shallower water is also subject to greater temperature change which can result in fish kills in summer time and an increased risk of freezing, cutting off food supplies for birds and other wildlife in winter.
Dr O’Byrne and Dr O’Leary, writing in Sherkin Comment 2010, say we may see a shift away from cold water species, such as salmon and trout, to more temperature tolerant species, such as coarse fish and pike, because of changes in temperature.
That will not go down well with game anglers. In previous columns, we highlighted the concerns of such anglers in Co Cork regarding the scarcity of salmon, while pike and coarse fish populations increased in their rivers.
Other problems can be created by the discharge of water to our rivers and lakes, which can be contaminated by chemicals that affect the reproduction of fish and other life. It is to be hoped that waste water is properly treated, but that is always the case.
By the way, the latest issue of Sherkin Comment is the 50th. Over the years, it has highlighted important environmental issues, at home and overseas. Editor Matt Murphy set out from the start to publish articles that were interesting and educational.
"I passionately believe education is the way forward in environmental care and that is why I try to bring a balance with articles from abroad, as well as from here in Ireland," he writes.
He says we must be diligent and remember what we have learned from the insane building boom of the Celtic Tiger. "We must protect our natural environment because it is irreplaceable. It is hoped the new planning laws will go a long away to bringing about the necessary protection; if not, then the future is very bleak indeed for Ireland’s most precious heritage."
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, December 27, 2010
