Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Office of Public Works (OPW) has been engaged in a number of activities to assess and develop nature-based solutions for flood risk management.

In 2019, a four-year research project, under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) research programme, titled ‘A Strategic Look at Natural Water Retention Measures’ (SLOWWATERS) commenced. This ongoing research has a budget of €508,000 and is co-funded by the OPW and the EPA. The research is assessing the benefits of nature-based solutions for agricultural catchments in Ireland. The project outputs will provide recommendations for the management of specific catchment types relevant to the Irish environment by quantifying the magnitude of nature-based solutions required to reduce flood peaks and improve downstream water quality by attenuating nutrients.

In addition to co-funding large-scale research, the OPW has contributed to funding community led work. In 2019, a study carried out by Trinity College Dublin on behalf of the Inishowen Rivers Trust, and funded by the OPW, to assess the feasibility of implementing nature-based solutions for catchment management at five locations on the Inishowen peninsula was completed. This study was followed by a LEADER funded project to implement nature-based solutions in Clonmany, for which the OPW has also provided funding. This project has implemented 69 measures, typically leaky-dams to slow flood peaks, and has involved extensive landowner and community engagement.

The OPW co-chaired a working group with the EPA which was established in 2019 to advise the National Technical Implementation Group of the Water Framework Directive on the use of nature-based solutions, to contribute to the achievement of environmental objectives set out in the second River Basin Management Plan cycle. The working group presented their findings in 2020 and the OPW is now part of the steering group for an EPA research project to implement a key recommendation from the working group entitled ‘Integrated Framework for River Restoration and Nature-based Solutions for Integrated Catchment Management’. The aim of this project is to develop a decision support framework to identify appropriate measures for restoring rivers and implementing nature-based solutions for integrated catchment management that would work to restore impacted surface waters.

Nature based solutions have been demonstrated to be effective for more frequent, less extreme flood events in small catchments. However, the OPW focuses on providing protection against extreme floods, such as the 100-year flood, which cause the most significant damage to communities, and there may be very limited, if any, benefit from nature-based solutions during such extreme events. The OPW does however recognise the potential for nature-based solutions to provide multiple co-benefits in the areas of water quality, biodiversity, carbon sequestration and public amenity, as well as potentially contributing to flood risk reduction. As such, the development of flood relief schemes under the OPW’s capital programme now involves a specific requirement to assess the potential for nature-based solutions as part of the overall solution to managing flood risk for a particular community. Where feasible, these measures will be implemented to reduce flood risk and contribute to achieving co-benefits.

Upstream retention is a measure that would have been considered for all schemes and is a feature of a number of recently completed or planned schemes, such as Clonakilty, and also on the Wad and Poddle rivers in Dublin.