We must heed lessons from the water fiasco

WHEN it comes to managing extremes we oscillate between everything and nothing. It often requires the most testing of times, and the interplay between the extremes, to discover hard truths. The hardships visited by Ophelia, and more immediately by Storm Emma, have given us plenty to think on. Generally, rural neighbourhoods bear the brunt of the elements, when agricultural communities are forced to cope with either flooding or drought, and take it in their strides. But as much of the east coast copes with the aftermath of Emma, we are forced to confront some inescapable facts.

Irish Water has had to introduce restrictions and thousands of households are having to do without. Roads, harbours and vital infrastructure starved of investment for nigh on a dozen years have been destroyed. So the announcement that the Government will fund the “exceptional and unbudgeted” costs local authorities ran up during the severe weather is some relief in the short term.

But our planning and budgeting failures are catching up on us. Taking stock of the damage, especially to our already hopelessly under-funded and antiquated water system, needs to be a priority. Clean, serviced water comes at a cost, and that is the reality. Dodging politically unpalatable hard choices will not make such problems go away.

Water is our most precious resource; it seems extraordinary that people could have senselessly and needlessly run their taps during the snows. Wasting a resource to keep it flowing is not only irresponsible, it is profoundly stupid. For the foreseeable future Irish Water has been forced into reducing water pressure overnight in the capital. We need to do better than this. In nature, there are no mistakes, only lessons. We cannot afford to ride our luck and wait around for the next storm to figure out where our defences are weakest.