Two big floods, one high river and a continuing fear as councillors seek answers on Shannon water levels

Councillors in Carrick-on-Shannon are seeking urgent Government clarity on who controls Shannon water levels, warning that persistent flooding, delayed relief works and fear of further flooding are devastating farmers and landowners.

Multiple calls were made at the January meeting of Carrick-on-Shannon Municipal District for an urgent meeting with a Minister to address the persistently high water levels on the River Shannon and clarify where responsibility lies.

Councillors Sean McGowan, Irene Guckian Rabbitte, Maeve Reynolds, Paddy Farrell and Enda Stenson each submitted the same motion seeking an urgent meeting with Minister of State Kevin Boxer Moran, who has responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW), to discuss how the ongoing issues surrounding Shannon water levels will be addressed.

“This is an annual problem with water levels extremely high for a number of months each year,” their motions stated. Since the severe flooding that affected Carrick-on-Shannon and surrounding areas in 2009, which was described at the time as a “once-in-a-century-event,” only to occur again in 2015, water levels on the Shannon have remained consistently high.

As a result, landowners have become increasingly frustrated as their lands continue to flood and there are ongoing fears that the scale of flooding seen in 2009 could be repeated due to the extent of current water levels.

Carrick-on-Shannon’s flood relief scheme is expected to go to planning this year. The €30 million project will involve embankments and flood walls, but it is not anticipated to be completed for approximately another five years.

A key concern raised by councillors during the meeting centred on which body holds responsibility for managing water levels on the Shannon.

“It’s a huge annoyance to landowners and an inconvenience. We want to try to get the Minister to answer questions,” said Cllr McGowan. “There are several bodies, the ESB, OPW, Waterways Ireland. Someone has to take responsibility,” he added.

“Why has the water been held back so long? Farming communities are fed up with their land being flooded all the time and we’ve got to get answers.”

Cllr Farrell echoed these concerns, stating that “too many agencies are involved in the Shannon and no one is really taking responsibility.”

According to the Shannon Flood Risk Working Group, the OPW is responsible for the maintenance of arterial drainage schemes and flood relief schemes. Local authorities are responsible for maintaining drainage works carried out in former drainage districts, Waterways Ireland is responsible for maintaining the navigation channel, and the ESB is responsible for the maintenance of its own infrastructure.

The impact on farmers was also highlighted during the discussion, with councillors noting that farmers are “suffering the most” due to repeated flooding of their lands. “It’s flooding the land and farmers are finding it harder and harder to know where even boundaries are for spreading different things on the land. We definitely need a meeting to understand what the issues are,” said Cllr Guckian Rabbitte.

Cllr Reynolds said the proposed meeting should ideally include representatives from IFA groups and the Shannon Flood Risk Working Group. “They’re years and years processing this data and looking at the trends. We need to get some answers as to who ultimately controls the water levels and a justification for why they’re being kept at the levels that they are,” she said.

Cllr Stenson stated that water levels are higher than they have been previously and are remaining elevated for longer periods. “The ESB have said that they have no reason to hold back the water. It’s not just a meeting for the sake of having a meeting. We were promised in 2009 and 2010 that there were going to be flood barriers and nothing has happened,” he said.

“We’re no different today. The people that are suffering are the farmers. It’s issues like this that are really important to farmers on the ground the whole way around the Shannon,” he added.

It was agreed that correspondence would be issued to the office of Minister of State Kevin Boxer Moran in an effort to arrange the requested meeting.