The Dealer nearly fell out his stand last week when he heard Teagasc officials using the euphemism “water table management” to talk about rewetting.

Speaking at the launch of the Teagasc MACC last week, Teagasc Professor Gary Lanigan said that water table management could help Ireland to meet its land use and land use change targets by 2030.

“I dislike the term rewetting. It’s not rewetting, it is lifting the water table. It doesn’t necessarily mean flooding,” he said.

His comments were mirrored by research officer Pat Tuohy who said that: “The IPCC again defines rewetting as the undermining or blocking of artificial drainage.

“It doesn’t impose, despite what you would hear, a water table depth, it doesn’t impose a target water table depth. It’s the blocking of artificial drainage.

Above the surface

“Where the water table ends up is irrelevant and certainly not dictating it will be above the surface,” he said. Now it may not impose a target water table depth but I would argue that where the water table ends up is relevant.

It will surely impact the stock carrying capacity of my land, the amount of fodder I can cut and the amount of time I can graze animals on it?