Our water has huge potential, so treasure it

GOOGLE last week cited the Irish climate when announcing a new data storage facility for Ireland. Microsoft and others have done the same.

That climate, you’ll have noticed, also produced vast amounts of rain over the past week. That may not brighten your day but it certainly underpins a natural resource that we exploit too little.

Water is a resource that Irish people are used to having for free. Much like the Emiratis in Abu Dhabi pay almost nothing for the oil bubbling up under their feet, we see water as something that is abundant and taken for granted. This is a misplaced mindset.

In many parts of the world water is becoming scarce due to changes in our climate. During the past few days a tiny Pacific island called Tuvala declared a state of emergency as it has no drinkable water. Its 11,000 inhabitants are now being supported by water imported on planes. Contrast that with the casual way we regard water.

Wastage in the Irish water system is widespread with loss rates of up to 40% being recorded due to old and damaged pipes. This water should be harnessed and utilised to further Ireland’s ambition to be the cleanest country on the planet, with access to ample supplies to support its population and, as importantly, its growing food industry. That vision should extend to making our seas and rivers pristine while transforming the drainage infrastructure to ensure higher quality counts and minimal loss rates. In doing so, we could create important stimulants to the economy in a number of sectors.

Here is a plan: (1) Establish a long-dated Irish water bond that is created explicitly to replace all old water pipes across the state. The IWB would carry an annual dividend coupon that is financed through national water charges.

The sums raised (from private investors, pension funds and specialist infrastructure funds) would be used to deploy employment intensive projects across the land to deliver a largely loss free system within 20 years.

(2) Create a blacklist of locations where water quality is poor in tourist-sensitive areas. I would start with Clifden, Co Galway, a town in the heart of what should be a UN-protected special conservation area yet has unsafe bathing waters in the village bay. If we truly have the ambition to be worldclass tourist destinations then seawaters like that in Clifden have to be shoe- horned in to higher standards.

(3) Provide a tax break for residential owners and farmers who buy rain harvesting equipment that reduces their demands on the national system.

Imagine if we could tell the world by 2020 that Ireland was advanced in creating a bulletproof water conservation and quality infrastructure that could support industry, tourism, agriculture and the population.

It would provide a backbone for the economy which, in a world where water scarcity is a live issue, could make our island an even better location from which to produce food and other sensitive products such as nutraceuticals.

Water is the lifeblood of Ireland’s agriculture. Without it we would be dependent on imported and expensive feed to produce milk and beef. With it we can produce another great Irish asset — grass.

That grass enables this country to make some of the most inexpensive milk and beef in the northern hemisphere. Moreover, grass feeding systems are being increasingly recognised as a premium method for producing food and one that achieves higher prices from consumers.

All of this underlines the value of fresh, Atlantic washed, water. That is why we should treasure it and find better ways to mine its potential.

- Joe Gill is director of research with Bloxham Stockbrokers