Flooding hits Carrigahorig area again

THE N65 was closed yet again recently because of flooding at the Carrigahorig/Lorrha cross, an occurrence which has become more and more regular during recent years leading to diversions of heavy traffic and extensive damage to minor roads.
On January 13th Tipperary County Council tweeted that the N65 was now “impassable” because of the flooding and “motorists should follow the signed diversion route.” The road remained closed for seven days.
During the January meeting of Nenagh Municipal District the councillors expressed their frustration about the situation. They pointed out they have raised the subject many times during Council meetings over the last decade and still nothing has happened. They also expressed their frustration that because the flooding area is in an environmentally sensitive area it could take years for the undertaking of amelioration works.
Some of the councillors expressed the belief that better management of the Shannon by the powers that be would solve the problem. Director of Services Marcus O'Connor disagreed with them.
“The issue of the flooding of the Shannon is a red herring,” said the Director. “I have been looking at it for about 25 years and in my view the ESB, overseeing Ardnacrusha, manages the levels extremely well.
“There is a misconception out there that the ESB can turn the water on and off like a tap. It doesn't work like that. It is a very detailed operation. There is also a misconception out there that the ESB could lower the river. We're talking about vast amounts of water during flooding incidents in the winter; there's something like 900 cubic metres of water a second during a flooding situation. When you put your feelings to one side and examine the matter scientifically then you realise you can't lower the river in the winter. The bottom line is that the Shannon floods and will always flood. It is a slow, long river flowing through flat land.
“At Carrigahorig our aim, to solve the flooding problem, is to raise the level of the road. It will unfortunately, because of environmental issues, be a slow, protracted process.”
Cllr Ger Darcy said the Councillors have been talking about the flooding problem in Carrigahorig for years, since 2013. “There's a flooding situation there every couple of years and each time the national secondary road, the N65 becomes impassable.”
Cllr Joe Hannigan said the State bought land beside the lake when building Ardnacrusha because they knew the land was going to flood. Ardnacrusha increased the level of the Shannon, he remarked. “I believe that if Ardnacrusha dropped the level then we wouldn't have the flooding situation in Carrigahorig.”
Cllr Michael O'Meara pointed out that the TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) is very au fait about the situation in Carrigahorig. “We should go back to the TII and ask them for road upgrading funding for the roads going into and surrounding Lorrha. A few years ago the R489 Birr to Portumna road wasn't far off flooding; which would have meant having to cross the Shannon at Athlone; if that had happened there would have been a national outcry. Carrigahorig is flooding at least two years out of three.”
Cllr Seamus Morris said there are reports going back to 1957 about flooding at Carrigahorig.
Marcus O'Connor said there isn't any quick fix solution to the general issue of the Shannon flooding. “Snake oil salesmen are arguing there is a magic bullet but there isn't,” he said.
Cllr O'Meara said it will be years before the problem is solved in Carrigahorig. “In the meantime the roads in the Lorrha area will be shattered. And I should add that the R489 Birr to Portumna Road is also in a deplorable state. Its edges are falling away into the verges. I don't know how some of those lorry drivers manage to negotiate it. It's brutal.”
Cllr Phyll Bugler said politicians as far back as the 1940s were calling for the draining of the Shannon. “It's not possible to drain the Shannon,” she remarked.