Plans unveiled for €540m eco-park and reservoir to store Shannon water

BORD na Móna has warned that approval for the development of a massive man-made reservoir in the midlands to store water drained from the Shannon is essential to guarantee future water supplies for the greater Dublin area.

The semi-state body yesterday revealed details of its controversial €540 million eco-park, to be located in Co Laois, which would incorporate a 700-acre reservoir on the site of a former bog as well as a range of water leisure facilities.

They are proposing to extract just over 2.2% of the total water flow from the Shannon at high-water levels from a location north of Lough Derg as part of a project, which will need the support of both the Department of the Environment and Dublin City Council.