Landowners may need to maintain watercourses to prevent flooding, Meath council says
Some cases of flooding may be prevented by maintenance of watercourses by landowners, Meath County Council has said.
This came in response to a motion by Fianna Fáil councillor Caroline O’Reilly at a March meeting of the council calling for a comprehensive catchment-wide assessment of flooding along the River Tolka system in the county.
Cllr O’Reilly asked the council to undertake a detailed review of flooding along the Tolka and its tributaries, including the Pinkeen River, and to examine culverts and other infrastructure that may be restricting water flow.
Her motion highlighted recent flooding incidents at the Mayne junction near Glenmore House and in the Hilltown area, and called for a “time-bound coordinated action plan” to address any flow restrictions or infrastructure capacity issues identified.
She also urged the council to work with the Office of Public Works and neighbouring local authorities in developing solutions.
In its response, the council said its environment department is currently gathering information from all municipal districts about flooding that occurred during recent storm events, including incidents reported in the Mayne area.
“We will assess this information and arrange for further site investigations where appropriate to see if there are works required that could prevent such flooding events in the future,” the local authority said.
“Some of the flooding that occurred may well be prevented by maintenance of watercourses by landowners and where applicable we will serve notices on the owners to carry out such works.”
Assessments will be prioritised in locations where flooding had the greatest impact, particularly where homes were affected.
Where substantial works are needed, the local authority said it will liaise with the OPW to initiate Minor Works Schemes and seek funding.
“We are aware of flooding at a number of locations in the Tolka and Pinkeen catchments and will be investigating the same,” the council added.
Speaking afterwards, Cllr O’Reilly said flooding events in recent years have highlighted the need to examine the issue across the entire river system rather than dealing with individual problems in isolation.
“Flooding is not something that can be addressed piece by piece. What happens upstream or in tributaries can have a significant impact further along the river,” she said.
!We need a full catchment approach so that we understand exactly where the pinch points and capacity issues are.”
Cllr O’Reilly also stressed the importance of engagement with landowners where maintenance of rivers and tributaries is required.
“Local authorities cannot address every issue alone. Where tributaries and drains run through private land, maintenance can sometimes be a challenge. There needs to be meaningful engagement with landowners to ensure that blockages or lack of maintenance are not contributing to flooding elsewhere in the catchment.”
She said the objective of the motion is to ensure that practical solutions can be identified and implemented.
“Our communities need to see progress and coordination between agencies. This assessment is about identifying the problems properly and putting a clear plan in place to address them.”