Seán Canney, T.D., Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) and Flood Relief has outlined the range of measures being taken to address flood risk on the River Shannon.
Speaking yesterday at the Environ 2017 Conference, the minister said, “ The Shannon Flood Risk State Agency Co-ordination Working Group met on 21 March, 2017 to agree its 2017 Work Program which sets out actions and activities to manage flood risk for the Shannon catchment .”
He added that the group has established a sub-committee that is focused and actively working to develop the plan that will halt the deterioration of the river channel and complement the preferred measures for those areas at assessed risk identified through the Shannon CFRAM Study.
The minister said: “ The sub-committee members have worked together to identify the scope of potential activities and proposals are now emerging for targeted activities to be carried out in a range of locations this year in accordance with the permitted seasonal windows for such activities .”
In addition to consideration of maintenance activity, the group also agreed to review and continue the pilot lowering of the levels on Lough Allen during the winter season for another year.
The minister acknowledged that the protocols agreed between the ESB, Waterways Ireland and the OPW were successfully implemented resulting in a lowering of the target winter water level by 0.7 meters.