OPW: Office of Public Works
Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblí
Aspects of Arterial Drainage Acts and EU Flood Directive
Significant aspects of the Arterial Drainage Acts relating to flood risk management are:
Weirs: Subject to some exceptions, Section 47 of the 1945 Arterial Drainage Act requires the consent of OPW to erect, enlarge or alter any weir or other like construction in a watercourse where such erection, enlargement or alteration might cause flooding of any land.
Bridges: Section 50 of the 1945 Arterial Drainage Act requires that no local authority, no railway company, canal company, or other similar body, and no industrial concern shall construct any new bridge or alter, reconstruct, or restore any existing bridge over any watercourse without the consent of the OPW.
EU Floods Directive: The new Directive on the assessment and management of flood risks ("Floods Directive") which has been agreed between the EU Parliament and Council will increase the growing emphasis on flood risk management. This Directive is due to be transposed into Irish law by late 2009.
This Directive will require that Member States take a long-term planning approach to reducing flood risks in three stages:
1. Member States will by 2011 undertake a preliminary flood risk assessment of their river basins and associated coastal zones.
2. Where real risks of flood damage exist, they must by 2013 develop flood hazard maps and flood risk maps.
3. Finally, by 2015 flood risk management plans must be drawn up for these zones.
These plans are to include measures to reduce the probability of flooding and its potential consequences. They will address all phases of the flood risk management cycle but focus particularly on prevention (i.e. preventing damage caused by floods by avoiding construction of houses and industries in present and future flood-prone areas or by adapting future developments to the risk of flooding), protection (by taking measures to reduce the likelihood of floods and/or the impact of floods in a specific location such as restoring flood plains and wetlands) and preparedness (e.g. providing instructions to the public on what to do in the event of flooding).These three steps are to be repeated in a six-year cycle to ensure that long-term developments are taken into account.