According to the Indo, which may or may not know anything about the matter itself but probably got a press release from someone [to whom the same qualification may apply], farmers along the Shannon Callows are concerned about rising water levels at Clonown, an area on the west bank below Athlone.
The level in that area is held up by the weir at Meelick. But according to Waterways Ireland today,
[…] low water levels exist on the upstream approaches to Meelick and Victoria Lock. Water levels are currently below Summer levels.
According to the OPW gauges at Athlone, the water level is below the 50th percentile and is falling. The same applies at Banagher, although it did exceed the 50th percentile for some days.
Three lessons suggest themselves:
- farmers might need to get used to the idea that, when it rains, it gets wet — and that, if they choose to farm on a floodplain, their land might get wet too
- politicians might refrain from issuing nonsensical panic-laden press releases to gain free publicity [but I suppose that’s too much to ask for]
- journalists might like to check stuff for themselves instead of reprinting press releases unquestioningly [but that too is probably too much to ask for].
