New department to manage flood risk and water quality
A new department is being set up in the council to manage flood risk and water quality across south Dublin.
The Natural Water Department is “now being established” by South Dublin County Council in order to specifically manage natural water operations, water pollution, water capital projects and planning, and flood alleviation schemes.
Details of the new department were given in response to a motion by Cllr Justin Sinnott (SD) at the Rathfarnham/Templeogue/Firhouse/ Bohernabreena Area Committee meeting on Tuesday, November 11.
Cllr Sinnott’s motion requested “a project plan for addressing blocked drains” after recent heavy rainfall affected the drainage system in the area and that “a means of communication for residents to report blockage” be established.
“The objectives of this department can be summarised under two categories – managing flood risk and managing water quality,” according to a council spokesperson.
Works carried out by this department will include ongoing maintenance of the network and assets, with a focus on network cleaning/jetting/desilting to maintain existing network capacity, as well as progression of the minor works programme to address flood risk or upgrade or repair network issues.”
They will also include management of new stormwater connections, providing a response to flood events, and ensuring data management, including mapping of assets, and provision of network information to external bodies.
“The recommended process for residents to report surface water flooding on roads is by emailing roadmaint@sdublincoco.ie,” council staff said in the response to Cllr Sinnott.
“This is a monitored email address and an acknowledgement will be sent out to the resident a road maintenance crew will unblock the road gullies accordingly.
“If there is a suspected blockage in the surface water pipework, then Natural Water Section will investigate further using cameras and jetting equipment.”
They added that the council also operates a street sweeping contract through Oxigen Environmental which allows for “ongoing scheduled sweeping of approximately 900km of road network and cleaning of over 44,000 gullies” and allows for additional maintenance for leaf clearance, including additional road sweeping and collection of bagged leaves from residents.
“If elected members are aware of specific locations where surface water flooding is occuring during heavy rainfall can they send these exact locations to naturalwater@sdublincoco.ie for further investigation,” they said.
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