Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 9 December 2020
66. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the OPW has undertaken a study on nature-based solutions for flooding in the Shannon basin region; and if so, if the review has been published. [42260/20]
View answerUnder the Shannon Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) study an assessment was undertaken of the potential for the storage of floodwaters from the Shannon River in the Bord na Móna cutover bogs. However, it was determined that these would provide insufficient storage to provide any substantial benefits given the volumes of water involved when the Shannon is in flood.
The potential for water retention is also considered at the community-level when assessing options for a flood relief scheme. For example, the proposals in the Flood Risk Management Plans for Athlone and Shannon Town published on www.floodinfo.ie do include storage as part of the potential solution for managing fluvial flooding.
In terms of the delivery of the Flood Risk Management Plans, the Office of Public Works will work with the Environment Protection Agency, Local Authorities and other agencies during the project-level assessments of physical works and more broadly at a catchment-level to identify any measures, such as natural water retention measures, that can have benefits for the Water Framework Directive, flood risk management and biodiversity objectives. Such measures will be included as part of the development of schemes where feasible and where potential benefits exist.
In addition, the OPW is co-funding with the EPA a major research project entitled ‘SLOWWATERS’ to examine the effectiveness of soft engineering measures in agricultural lands, and is also funding another research project to examine the ecosystem services of Irelands forests for flood protection and water quality, with a view to better understanding the effectiveness of such measures and develop pilot sites in Ireland. The OPW also provided funding to the Inishowen Rivers Trust in Donegal to investigate the use of such measures to reduce flood risk and provide co-benefits.
The OPW is co-chairing with the EPA the Working Group on Natural Water Retention Measures that is intended to identify approaches that could be used to develop integrated catchment management measures to provide benefits to multiple sectors, such as biodiversity, water quality, sediment control, as well as for flood risk reduction. This working Group involves stakeholders from a broad spectrum of sectors
