Policy information
Major Flood Relief Schemes
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Published on
Last updated on
Historically, flood risk management focused on arterial drainage for the benefit of agricultural improvement. Arising from increasing flood risk in urban areas, the Arterial Drainage Act, 1945, was amended in 1995 to permit the OPW to implement flood relief schemes to provide flood protection for cities, towns and villages.
The OPW’s major flood relief schemes are typically designed and built to a standard that protects areas against the 1 in 100-year flood event, and coastal areas against the 1 in 200-year flood event, where it is feasible to do so. These are significant flood events, that can cause significant impact and are often called once in a lifetime flood. In reality, the term 1 in 100-year flood means there is a 1% chance of them occurring in any single year.
To establish those communities that are at risk from these significant flood events the OPW, in 2018 completed the largest study of flood risk ever undertaken by the State. The OPW’s Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) Programme was undertaken by engineering consultants on behalf of the OPW working in partnership with the local authorities. The CFRAM Programme studied 80% of Ireland’s primary flood risk and identified solutions that can protect over 95% of that risk.
These solutions are set out in a series of 29 Flood Risk Management Plans, launched in May 2018 and available on www.floodinfo.ie , and includes some 150 additional flood relief schemes. The Government has committed €1.3 billion to the delivery of these flood relief schemes over the lifetime of the National Development Plan to 2030 to protect approximately 23,000 properties in threatened communities from river and coastal flood risk. Since 2018, as part of a phased approach to scheme delivery this funding has allowed the OPW to treble to over 90 schemes at design and construction at this time.
Completed schemes by the OPW are providing protection to over 12,200 properties and an economic benefit to the State in damage and losses avoided estimated to be in the region of €1.9 billion.
Today, work by the OPW is complete or underway to deliver protection to 80% of properties to be protected by this significant investment programme. Detail on the flood relief schemes completed, underway and planned – and a link to individual flood relief scheme websites at www.floodinfo.ie/scheme-info
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