Donegal County Council has been left in the ‘rough’ after divers began searching for priceless golf balls in Lough Salt.
The rare golf balls nest at the bottom of Lough Salt
Divers have been searching for rare golf balls which were left behind by former Open champion winner Tom Morris in the 1800s.
The golfing legend is believed to have struck 20 of the gutta percha golf balls which are worth €20,000 each into Lough Salt.
However Donegal County Council is worried by an influx of divers because the lough is the main public water supply for thousands of households.
The council said today it is very concerned the water supply could be threatened by amateur divers searching for the golfballs.
“Donegal County Council is extremely concerned about the recent reports on diving activity in the waters of Lough Salt County Donegal for recreational reasons and in particular the retrieval of artefacts from the lake bottom.
Golfing legend Old Tom Morris
“Lough Salt is one of the main sources of drinking water for Letterkenny and its environs. The unique waters of Lough Salt are of a very high quality and are vital to the quality of drinking water for the population and any activity that could lead to a threat to the quality of this water is taken very seriously by the Council.
“The Council wishes to advise that as a drinking water source Lough Salt is a protected water body under the Water Framework Directive and the Council will take all measures necessary within its powers to prevent further use of this lake for such recreational use,” said a council spokesman.
The council also added that it was worried about people who are not qualified to dive going searching for the rare balls.
“It should also be noted that Lough Salt is a deep lake and diving in the lake requires the use of specialist diving equipment operated by divers trained and capable of using such equipment.
“The only situation that the Council will consider in terms of granting permission to dive in Lough Salt will be in relation to emergency contingency planning in order to develop a planned response to an accident which results in a recovery operation from the waters of the lake,” added the spokesman.
Tags:
