Bandon fish pass 'not done right and starting to fall apart'
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An ecologist who was involved in the initial baseline survey for the Bandon flood relief scheme has claimed elements of the finished project are not working and are harming fish in the Bandon River.
Dr William O'Connor, an aquatic ecologist who also operates Ecofact, an ecological and environmental consultancy, had tweeted that after two years of operation, the recently constructed fish pass on the Bandon River had "failed" and was blocking the migration of salmon, eels and lampreys in the river.
Dr O'Connor said he had been involved at an early stage of the project in terms of its ecological survey and that mitigation measures ultimately included in the project had been insufficient and had not worked.
"The whole thing has failed," he said, claiming that "the fish pass was not done right and it has started to fall apart".
This is in reference to the 130m-long series of steps that are to facilitate the movement of fish
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at the weir, but which Dr O'Connor said was now full of rocks "all in the wrong place".
The OPW said it would look to provide an update on the fish pass on the River Bandon as soon as possible.
It comes as the Irish Wildlife Trust also weighed in, tweeting this week: "Let the River Bandon be a warning to us about the dangers of too much concrete and ignoring dissenting voices. We need an entirely new approach to flooding which does not involve destroying natural river systems."
Campaign officer for the Irish Wildlife Trust, Padraic Fogarty, said the physical alteration of rivers "is one of the biggest negative impacts on rivers in Ireland" and that the River Bandon had been proposed as a natural heritage area as far back as the 1970s.
"The issue we have with all of these schemes, not just Bandon, is that they are over-engineered," he said, adding that while the plan might have needed some concrete, the quantity ultimately used was excessive and could never mimic the natural vegetation that had to be removed.
He said reform of the Arterial Drainage Act — under which such schemes are conducted — was needed.
Separately, a prosecution brought by Inland Fisheries Ireland against three contractors on the Bandon flood relief scheme is due for mention in court next month ahead of a date for a final judgement.
The matter was heard across a number of days in the district court, beginning in February 2018.
Byrne Looby Partners Water Services Ltd, contracted on the Bandon flood relief project by the OPW, Rivus Ltd of Clonmel in Co Tipperary, and Wills Bros Ltd of Foxford in Co Mayo were prosecuted by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) over an alleged incident on May 10, 2017 during work on the Bandon flood relief scheme in Co Cork.
All three companies deny the charges and the court was told that huge mitigation efforts had been put in place during work on the scheme, beyond that required in the contracts.
IFI claims as many as 400 fish died during works on the Bandon River — one of the biggest drainage projects in Europe — but the court heard counter-arguments that the number of fish killed was actually "negligible".