Dear Councillor,

The water situation as reported this morning was production at 554Mld and demand at 535Mld i.e. a net gain of 19Mld. Therefore we have made good progress over the last four nights and it is very heartening to note the co-operation from the public. We now have storage in Stillorgan up to 665Mld. We would like to have this between 730Mld and 750Mld heading into January.

Having reviewed the situation again this morning we will be continuing with restrictions over the next three nights.

For tonight (Monday 20th December) the times will be from 7pm to 7am. We hope to be able to ease the starting time for Tuesday 21st December and Wednesday 22nd December 2010 but it will be tomorrow morning before we can confirm this.

It is intended (as previously advised) that there will be no cut-offs from the 23rd to 28th December inclusive with a further review on the 29th.

Michael Phillips and I attended another meeting of the National Emergency Co-ordinating Committee this morning. In the Dublin area there some snow in the Dun Laoghaire area and while there were some restrictions to Bus services it was manageable. The remainder of the city area was fine.

Temperatures in Castlederg Co. Tyrone were as low as minus 18 last night. There is now a stronger possibility of snow in the Eastern Counties today and with the potential (5-8cm) of more persistent snowfall tomorrow. The North West is also at risk. Beyond Wednesday looks like being dry on Thursday and Friday but still very cold. Freezing fog could be an issue during the week.  There is likely to be sleet and snow turning to rain on the night of Christmas Eve and into Christmas Day as the milder weather tries to take hold with wet and windy weather.

The NRA continues to manage overall salt supplies salt. The delivery to Cork of 4,000 tonnes should arrive on 22nd/23rd for unloading to trucks on 23rd. It is also expected that there will be 2,000 tonnes coming into Belfast on the 23rd.  Shipments from Turkey and Egypt are to arrive on Friday 12,000 tonnes into Dublin and Saturday 5,000 tonnes into Cork. NRA will be issuing a note to all local authorities today following update from shipping companies on arrival times.

We are continuing to spread salt in the city as per the map on the website. We will keep you advised on a daily basis on what is an evolving situation.
Yours Sincerely,

John Tierney
City Manager