Water security needs our urgent attention

JUST hours before Irish Water reminded us yesterday morning how very precarious our water supply is and that just under half — 49% — of the water processed for drinking in the State is lost because of endemic leaks in a dilapidated system, researchers at Columbia University warned that America’s south-west and the Great Plains will face decade-long droughts far worse than any experienced over the last 1,000 years because of climate change.

The juxtaposition of those two pieces of information points to so many pressing problems, most of them manmade, that it would be worse than foolish to pretend that immediate and forceful action is not needed on a number of fronts — even if all earlier efforts to recognise and deal with those realities have been far less successful than they ought to have been.

On the national front, the failure by government after government to ensure that water supply infrastructure was developed to keep pace with social and industrial demand has left us in a terrible position.

This all-party neglect could almost be described as a betrayal; it has certainly left a toxic legacy.

We have a clapped-out system and we can’t agree on how it might be restored so we might have a secure, reliable supply of water.

Efforts to establish a new way to do this have shown our political system and elements of our public administration in the very worst light.

Some of those so vehemently opposed to water charges have hardly covered themselves in glory either.

Nevertheless the problem remains unresolved.

In the knock-and-drag over water charges, we may have lost sight of the fact that our economy is utterly dependent on a reliable, plentiful supply of clean water.

Just yesterday, the CSO published figures that show that chemicals and related products accounted for 58% of the value of all exports last year.

CSO figures show that the value of medical and pharmaceutical products rose by €973m — 5% — to €22.2bn.

Elements of the food processing sector are equally dependent on a reliable water supply.

If this situation was jeopardised because of inadequate supplies, it would be neglect bordering on treason.

Though we are blessed with a climate far more temperate than parts of south western America, we can learn lessons from their difficulties.

Already demands for water — for farming and domestic life — have drastically reduced groundwater sources in California and across the south-west.

It is expected that the south-west and Great Plains could expect to see chronic water shortages, making it impossible to carry out farming and ranching under current methods.

We are a long way from that, but we need to quickly improve our infrastructure to ensure we can meet industry’s needs.

As former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern once lamented, it takes far too long to get things done in this country so even if there is still considerable controversy around water charges, we must press ahead and do all we can to ensure that we have a water service fit for purpose, and we must do so urgently.