Squabbles to blame as river maintenance work is put on the long finger

THERE are so many agencies involved in the control and upkeep of waterways that it has been a contributory factor in hundreds of acres of land across County Galway being flooded during continuous rainfall.

And it has been suggested that when it comes to an emergency situation – such as 2009 and the Winter of 2015/2016 – that there should be one authority in control of water levels.

Even straight-forward works like the cleaning of the embankments of rivers have been stopped by agencies on environmental grounds and the impact that such works would have on Special Areas of Conservation.

Members of Tuam Municipal Council said that they would no longer tolerate hundreds of acres of agricultural land in Corofin, Abbeyknockmoy and other parts of North Galway being left under water when the levels could be reduced by opening sluice gates in the city.

One of the most vocal was Cllr Donagh Killilea who said that parts of Corofin and Tuam were plagued by flooding and he believed that this was down to there being too many agencies being involved in the county’s waterways.

While he said that the works that had taken place in Claregalway –  with the dredging and the widening of the river, along with the provision of flood eyes – had a huge impact downstream, the bigger issue of flooding had to be addressed.

“Whoever is responsible for the opening and closing of the sluice gates in Galway city is anybody’s guess at this stage because there seems to be five or six agencies involved in this whole process.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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