Irish Water to host evening webinars on draft regional water resources plan

Irish Water are set to host evening webinars in the coming weeks as part of its public consultation on it draft Regional Water Resources Plan for the Eastern and Midlands Region.

The evening webinars will take place next Wednesday, February 16 and Wednesday, February 23, both at 7.30pm. At these events Irish Water will provide information on the draft Regional Water Resources Plan Eastern and Midlands and allow the public opportunities to pose questions.

The cornerstone of the plan is the proposed 170km pipeline from the River Shannon to Dublin. In addition to improving the water supply in Dublin, it's also planned that the pipeline also supply water to a number of large towns on its route, including Mullingar and Tullamore.

Irish Water says that “the draft plan describes the Eastern and Midland Region and the current challenges faced now and into the future in terms of delivering a safe, secure and resilient water supply”.

Public webinars were held by day on February 2, 3, 7 and 8. In response to requests for webinars to be held outside of working hours, two additional evening webinars have been added over the next fortnight.

Speaking about the public consultation on the draft plan, Angela Ryan, Water Resource Strategy Specialist for Irish Water said, “We have had really good engagement at our webinars so far. We hope to facilitate more engagement by adding two extra evening webinars. We would encourage everybody to get involved and have their say on the draft plan.

“Development of the draft plan will allow Irish Water for the first time to review water supply needs collectively across the entire Eastern and Midlands Region covering a broad spectrum of risk including quality, quantity, reliability and sustainability. It will allow us to consider local options to resolve these needs and larger regional options that can address multiple supplies.

“The draft Regional Plan will also offer key benefits in terms of transformation of our supplies, including the ability to cater for growth and economic development in a sustainable way, improved interconnectivity between our supplies to ensure balanced regional development, and new sustainable water sources that are adaptable to climate change such as the new Shannon source which is coming from the largest catchment in Ireland.

“If people are interested in our plans for the Eastern and Midlands Region, they are welcome to join one of our evening webinars and hear more from our team,” explained Angela.