Farmers along the Shannon Callows have said their livelihoods are being destroyed by rising water levels in the area, which takes in large stretches of land in counties Galway, Offaly, Roscommon and Westmeath.
While flooding has begun to ease in recent days, stranded livestock remains a concern and farmers are calling for urgent help to address the issue.
James Nevin is a farmer living in the area and had to move his cattle to higher ground.
"This is where I'm farming," he said, pointing to land now submerged in water.
"On 13 July, I saved over 250 bales of hay off this piece of ground," he said.
"I put my stock on here after grass on 27 September, and had to shift the cattle back over on 4 October.
"I got them out on the Saturday lucky enough, if I had left them until Sunday, they would have been blocked in," Mr Nevin added.
Mr Nevin said the flooding is reminiscent of what happened in the summer of 2023.
"This is what we're facing now, year in, year out. We had this two years ago and we lost everything. We had no grazing, no hay, no nothing. Now here we are again," he said.
"Two years on, we're just gone into October, and the cattle had to come out again."
While Mr Nevin's livestock were moved to higher ground, some other cattle are marooned on parts of the land, now surrounded by water.
"Some of the farmers came as the water began to rise, and they were able to get the livestock away," said Save our Shannon Organisation's Liam Broderick.
"It wouldn't often happen that the cattle would be marooned because the water wouldn't jump up as much as it did there eight days ago or nine days ago," Mr Broderick said.
While farmers said they are safe for now, there are still concerns.
"It's absolutely crazy," said Chairperson of the Save Our Shannon Organisation Michael Silke, adding: "we had heavy rainfall for two days almost two weeks ago.
"If you take the Shannon catchment all over, it had approximately two-and-a-half to three inches of rain over the catchment, and the Shannon has risen dramatically."
"It's risen three and four and five feet in places and you can see the consequences of it all, cattle completely marooned, literally overnight, because the water levels rose so dramatically and so quickly.
"We had a very dry summer and we had a lot of grass left here in this area and we all felt that we were going to get another six or seven weeks from this land grazing for our cattle, and now it's gone.
"Along the Shannon Callows you have around 300 farmers who are seriously affected at the minute, and their livelihoods," Mr Silke added.
In 2023, similar flooding had a major impact in the area.
"We were flooded right through the whole year and now we're in 2025, a year-and-a-half later and this is what we have here.
"It's just getting tougher and tougher to exist in this area, to be honest," said Mr Silke.
Farmers are hopeful of a resolution, sooner rather than later.
"When I was young, it took three weeks of incessant rainfall to put up a flood like what we have here today," Mr Silke said.
"Now we have it after two-and-a-half inches or three inches of rainfall. So the whole thing is crazy, and it just calls into question, why are the Government not doing something about it?"
The Shannon Flood Risk State Agency Co-ordination Working Group said water levels are managed on the River Shannon through the operation of gates and sluices at the outlets of the three major lakes and the operation of sluices and weirs at Jamestown, Roosky, Tarmonbarry, Meelick and the New Cut.
"These operations influence the levels on the Shannon but due to the shallow gradient of the river and the many natural restrictions along its course, the levels cannot be fully controlled, especially when the Shannon is in flood.
"The river level is primarily the result of the amount of rain that falls on the river catchment area," it said
The group was established by the government in 2016 to enhance the ongoing cooperation of all State agencies involved with the River Shannon and to introduce coordinated flood risk solutions that may benefit in managing flood risk on the Shannon Catchment.
It is comprised of key agencies involved in managing the flood risk of the River Shannon and is focused on prioritising actions and activities that can help to manage flood risk along the river.
The group added that Waterways Ireland and ESB Networks monitor weather forecasts along with water level reading instrumentation to make informed decisions around sluice opening and closing procedures in accordance with agreed protocols for managing water levels.
Water levels are monitored and responded to on the Shannon multiple times per day, seven days a week, it said.
When all gates at the weirs are open, there is no further action to prevent further rising water level.
At this stage the water is running through all open gates and over adjacent weirs, the group added.
In response, the ESB said recent heavy rainfall, following a dry period, resulted in increasing water levels and flows in the River Shannon and its tributaries.
It said it is continuously monitoring the water levels throughout the Shannon and continues to operate in accordance with its regulations and guidelines for control of the River Shannon.
"There was significant heavy rainfall throughout the Shannon catchment earlier in October (from the 30th September to the 4th October circa 70mm was recorded across the Lough Ree Catchment), following a dry period," it said.
"The rivers Suck and Brosna flow into the Shannon in the Callows and add significantly to the Shannon flow at these points."
The ESB added: "These tributaries have a significant impact on water levels in the Callows and can increase flooding in this area."
Fifteen sluice gates to manage flow of water
The ESB also said that it has 15 sluice gates at the outlet of Lough Ree at Athlone to manage the flow of water during dry periods.
"As the water level in the Callows downstream of Athlone rises, the sluice gates are closed and no further control can be exercised on the water levels in Lough Ree and the flow into the Callows.
"The vast majority of the water flowing from Lough Ree flows uncontrolled over the 170m weir alongside the sluice gates.
"All the sluices at Athlone were closed by the ESB by 17th September," the ESB said.
The ESB said that Lough Derg is the only lake where water levels are directly influenced by the generating station in Ardnacrusha.
"The water level in Lough Derg does not influence water levels in the Callows above Meelick Weir, which is near Banagher in Co Offaly.
"ESB Ardnacrusha and Gate Movements at Parteen Weir also have no effect on water levels above Meelick Weir.
"This has been confirmed following independent studies in consultation with various stakeholders throughout the Callows," it said.
The ESB also said that due to the flat topography of the river and the slow rate of water flow through the Callows, there is still not enough water arriving into Lough Derg to maintain Ardnacrusha at full output, despite the heavy rain last weekend.
Lough Derg has continued to remain within its normal operating band since this rainfall.
The ESB said it works closely with all stakeholders on the Shannon, with daily communication as required between Waterways Ireland and ESB representatives with regard to sluice movements throughout the Shannon.
