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Firm reminders of soft margins

Posted on December 9th, 2009

Although the lingering roadsigns are perhaps recent reminders advising road users of road closures along the Pier Road in Oughterard due to flooding, there are still plenty of firm reminders of nearby flooding that the warning notices of soft margins are hardly required or indeed necessary?

Although a casual visitor might be impressed by the apparent nearness and expanse of water on bothsides of the Pier Road, levels are still very high. The ditches which run along bothsides are as much as 1.0m – 2.0m deep and many are overflowing. More worrying for local residents is the nearness of high water which contiunes to spread from the local Owenriff river which appears to have become submerged within the new expanded waterscape. The Pier Road leads one to the Great Corrib lake and here too high water levels can be seen. Current levels are  as much as 2.0m – 3.0m above normal levels, quite staggering when one considers that the Corrib lake which has  depths of up to 50m making it even deeper than Galway Bay! The swans might be enjoying the newly expanded habitat of  ‘Soft Margins’ but I would doubt very much if anyone else would see the current conditions so.