9.5.3 Flood Management

Climate change is one of the most significant and challenging issues facing humanity. It is important that Dublin City Council responds to this issue. Climate change will result in rising sea levels and more frequent and more severe rainfall events.

The primary sources of flooding are: ­

• Coastal and estuarine flooding of areas adjacent to the coast or tidal estuaries.

• Fluvial or riverine flooding arising from rivers and streams.

• Pluvial flooding in low spots following intense rainfall.

• Flooding associated with dam failure, either actual failure or high discharge release when in danger of over-topping.

• Drainage flooding due to failure or inadequacies of the drainage system.

The five flood sources above have been addressed to date in a number of investment programmes. Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council in association with the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources and the Office of Public Works (OPW) undertook the Dublin Coastal Flooding Protection Project and participated in the EU Interreg Programme IIIB SAFER project which addressed coastal flood risk.

The OPW is the lead agency for flood risk management in Ireland and is the national competent authority for the EU Floods Directive. Dublin City Council works in close partnership with the OPW in delivering the objectives of the Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) Programme for the major rivers and coastal areas of Dublin city.

The National CFRAM programme commenced in 2011 and is central to the medium- to long-term strategy for the reduction and management of flood risk in Ireland. The CFRAM Studies scheduled to produce detailed maps for the Areas of Further Assessment in 2013, and flood Risk Management Plans in 2015, will set out the long-term strategies and prioritised measures to reduce and manage flood risk.

CFRAM Studies are being undertaken by the OPW, in consultation with the Dublin Local Authorities, for the Rivers Liffey, Santry, Poddle, and Camac as well as the city coastal zones. The associated latest available flood maps for all of these will be incorporated into the Dublin City Development Plan.