We don’t need a fish bypass

Dear Editor,

Last week Chris (Kipper) O’Donovan in his letter to the Editor stated that “We don’t need a fish bypass in Fermoy - it would make a laughing stock of our country across Europe”. One could not agree more with that statement and I am delighted that Mr O’Donovan made such an honest statement. It is quite evident that the fish are passing up through Fermoy and Mr O’Donovan is only too aware of that.

It was a further delight to read his letter, and his enthusiasm for the environment, albeit with some concern. He promotes the idea of damming the river with timber and having the water flow into woodlands, without firstly looking at where these woodlands are situated. Most forests are located on upland and peatland areas where the soils are naturally acidic. Conifer tree species dominate these forests as they are best adapted to exposed sites and acid soils. Conifer plantations, however, can increase site acidity through capturing airborne pollutants and concentrating these in surface waters. How Mr O’Donovan’s proposal would work, well one would need God on their side, for it would be impossible to retain the water on a hill. Not only would this be impossible, given that the water flows down, the water would carry with it silt and more acid into an already acidic system that would negatively impact the aquatic ecosystem. Excess nutrients would further accelerate eutrophication, leading to more problems.

To put in place such a flood management system, there are far more issues to be considered, all of which would have to be considered by the production of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Logs and woods will not solve this issue, there are other contributing factors. Such factors are soil compaction from modern agriculture, loss of wetlands and bogs, conifer plantations and the lack of any permanent woodland features, are only some of the factors to be considered.

It is one thing to log jam a river or stream to reduce the flow, however, to truly solve any flooding issues needs much more thought than wood logs and woods. We need to plant permanent broad leaf trees, restore bogs and wetlands to allow them to store water, open up land to flooding, and sustainable urban drainage systems are but a few things that must be considered and done in conjunction with any proposed idea of damming rivers.

Thankfully, the people of Fermoy need not worry anymore. We have a flood defence system that functions perfectly. Places will always flood, that is a consequence of building on a flood plain and diverting water from one area will only lead to flooding in another. No matter how well intentioned, environmental management is not always the answer, for it tends to have consequences regardless. We are forever trying to manage the environment, so as we can continue in the same way. It is not the environment that needs managing, it is us, for we are the ones continually dictating how it should operate.

We need to let things as they are, let nature thrive by having as little impact and interference as possible. Perhaps the introduction of beavers is the answer here. Who better knows how to build a dam and where? It is one thing to count the cost of flooding, but what would the true cost be to the environment if we got it wrong.

I have no doubt that Mr. O’Donovan’s input is well intentioned, but his proposal would have consequences for someone else. Unlike some farmer upstream who cannot move his land to avoid flooding, Mr O’Donovan can mitigate his loss by moving his boat to the slip on Rathealy Road. The Rowing Club can still row, albeit in a limited capacity. Nevertheless, it is we who must change our ways, for this ‘ business-as-usual’ attitude has done nothing to our degraded environment. Daniel O’Brien,

Ballyoran, Castlelyons,

Co Cork.