Dublin - Ireland's rapidly growing capital city could face serious water shortages by as early as 2020, a study by an academic research group has shown according Irish press reports Wednesday. Owing to a significant drop in rainfall caused by global warming and an almost doubling of Dublin's population, drinking water supplies to the city will drop by 20 per cent by 2020 and by 50 per cent by mid-century, the Irish Climate Analysis and Research Unit (Icarus) was quoted in The Irish Times as saying.
Summer rainfall levels will drop by 40 per cent as temperatures rise on average by 2 degrees, while Dublin's population is expected to explode from 1.4 million in 2007 to a projected 2.4 million by 2031, the report said.
In the newspaper report, Dr Conor Murphy of Icarus at the National University of Ireland in Maynooth said that Dublin would have to look beyond its traditional sources of water, currently dominated by the river Liffey which supplies 80 per cent of the city's needs.
Plans to build a pipeline to tap the river Shannon in the centre of the island have already sparked controversy among local residents.
Other sources of drinking water for Dublin could include a desalination plant in Dublin Bay, tapping groundwater and increasing reservoir capacity, Murphy said.
Dublin City Council has predicted that water demand will increase from 550 million litres per day now to 880 million by 2031.
