First reports on Shannon flooding by year end
by Tadhg Carey Updated: Friday, 15th April, 2011 2:20pm
The first reports from consultants engaged to assess River Shannon flooding are expected to be presented to local authorities in the region before the end of the year.
This report, a preliminary flood risk assessment, must be submitted to the European Union before December 22, 2011, and will be outlined to local authorities, including Westmeath and Roscommon County Councils, before then.
It is the first in what is expected to be a possibly four-year project to examine the problems of flooding in the region.
Areas in South Westmeath and South Roscommon along the Shannon Callows are regularly dogged by flooding and were badly hit by the horrendous flood of late 2009.
In the wake of those floods, it emerged that no large scale works on alleviate flooding along the River Shannon would be sanctioned by the Office of Public Works until the major study on Shannon flooding was completed.
The new Minister of State at the Department of Finance Brian Hayes, who has responsibility for the Office of Public Works revealed in the Dáil recently:
"The first principal reporting stage of this study will be the Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment which is required to be reported on at EU level by 22 December 2011 as set out in the EU Floods Directive. The outcome of this assessment will be presented to the local authorities within the River Shannon catchment prior to that.
"The summer flooding of the Shannon Callows between Portumna and Athlone will be specifically examined in this study to reflect the social and environmental damage which it causes in the catchment.
"I will continue to review the efficacy of any interim measures, to assist in mitigating flood impacts, in the Callows area which may be pursued in advance of the completion of the Shannon CFRAM study.
"In parallel with the commissioning of the CFRAM study for the River Shannon, the OPW continues to liaise with Waterways Ireland and the ESB to review water management protocols for the major storage areas in the Shannon system," he said.
