River blockages affecting Leitrim farmland, says Councillor

Calls have been made for substantial funding to clean and dredge all small rivers under the responsibility of Leitrim County Council.

At a meeting of Carrick-on-Shannon Municipal District, Cllr Sean McGowan proposed that the Office of Public Works finance a project targeting the tributary rivers that feed into the main waterways.

“We need a significant funding package to try and get those rivers cleaned. We have somewhere in the region of 50 to 55 kilometres that we would be responsible for,” Cllr McGowan said.

“We have numerous small tributary rivers that never see any maintenance carried out,” he added.

He noted that the proposed works would be of great help to farmers, explaining that when farmland becomes saturated, excess water should drain into nearby rivers. However, when those rivers are blocked, the water stays on the land for extended periods.

Concerns raised over delays in clean up of Leitrim river tributary

Carrick-on-Shannon Municipal District were told that in stream works are prohibited from September to March.

“If we got somewhere in the region of €2 million to €3 million over a couple of years it would do a good job and I think it would be beneficial to the farming community.”

His motion was seconded by Cllr Farrell, Cllr Flynn and Cllr Reynolds.

Cllr Flynn pointed out that there is only a narrow timeframe each year when such work can be carried out without disturbing fisheries.

“If we don’t have the capacity of machinery and drivers ready to go when the weather is right then we’ve missed it for another year so the budget needs to be massively increased,” he commented.

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