Fingal East Meath Flood Risk Assessment and Management Study

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EU Floods Directive

On the 26 November 2007, a new European Directive on the assessment and management of flood risk, the “Floods Directive”, was introduced and sets out how member states must plan for the management of flood risk. Member States have 2 years to transpose the Directive into domestic law. The purpose of the directive is “to establish a framework for the assessment and management of flood risks, aiming at the reduction of the adverse consequences for human health, the environment, cultural heritage and economic activity associated with floods in the Community”. This will be achieved through a series of requirements set out by the Directive, which will be carried out at river catchment level and also in coastal zones.

The European Commission proposed the floods directive to help Member States manage the risk associated with floods, including their damaging effects on human health, the environment, infrastructure and property. The principal requirements of the Directive are that Member States shall:

Undertake a preliminary flood risk assessment (PFRA) to determine areas of existing or potential future ‘significant’ risk, and for those areas;
Prepare flood hazard and risk maps; and
Prepare flood risk management plans.

In Ireland, these latter two requirements of the Directive will be delivered through the Flood Risk Assessment and Management (FRAM) Studies.

Further key requirements of the Directive are for transboundary co-operation and coordination with the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD). On the FEM FRAMS project, this requirement is being achieved through coordination with the Eastern River Basin District Project that is implementing the Water Framework Directive in the East of Ireland.

Photos

The Ward River

Skerries Coastline

Key Activities

The key activities to the project are