The State of Ireland A review of infrastructure in Ireland

Transcription

1 The State of Ireland 2018 A review of infrastruture in Ireland A ommunity of reative professionals delivering solutions for soiety

2 Contents Foreword ii Exeutive summary iii Key reommendations v Water / Wastewater Flooding Energy Transport Communiations Waste Introdution Introdution Advisory group members Who we are With over 25,000 members from every disipline of engineering, Engineers Ireland is the voie of the engineering profession in Ireland. We have been representing the engineering profession sine 1835, making us one of the oldest and largest professional bodies in Ireland. Our members represent every disipline of engineering, and range from engineering students to fellows of the profession. Fous on Water / Wastewater Water resoures Publi water supply Publi wastewater Private water suppy and wastewater Fous on Flooding River Coastal Urban Rural Groundwater Foreasting and warning Updates on previous reports Energy Communiations Transport Waste Our responsibilities Promote knowledge of engineering Establish and maintain standards of professional engineering and engineering eduation Provide opportunities for ontinuing professional development (CPD) for engineers Maintain standards of professional ethis and ondut Ensure that professional titles are granted to qualified andidates, and At as the authoritative voie of the engineering profession in Ireland Glossary i

3 Foreword Foreword Welome to The State of Ireland 2018, the eighth in a series of annual expert-led assessments of the key elements of our system of infrastruture. The report summarises the expertise of the engineering ommunity and seeks to inform deision making on the planning, design and delivery of infrastruture to ensure the prosperity of Irish soiety. The State of Ireland 2018 omes at a pivotal junture for our ountry. Earlier this year, the National Development Plan (NDP) and National Planning Framework (NPF) were published as part of Projet Ireland Engineers Ireland is very supportive of these plans, whih represent a ritially important framework for the sustainable development of Ireland over the next generation. The ommitment to sustained inreases in apital investment ontained in the National Development Plan is very welome, however, highly-skilled engineers will be required to make these projets a reality. Engineers Ireland s Engineering 2018 report, published earlier this year, demonstrated the hallenges posed by skills shortages, partiularly in the Civil and Building Engineering field. In the oming years, we must refous our efforts on enouraging more young people, espeially young women, to pursue a areer in engineering. In relation to the implementation of the National Planning Framework and National Development Plan , we welome the attention given to institutional reform with the Government s new National Regeneration and Development Ageny, the Infrastruture Projets Offie and the Constrution Setor Working Group. However Engineers Ireland believes that the Government must go one step further and establish a single infrastruture authority to oversee the implementation of the NPF and NDP projets aross Government departments and State agenies. Over the next 20 years, our population is expeted to inrease by one million people. In line with international trends, we must prepare for the majority of this population and jobs growth to be foused in urban entres. This will mean putting in plae strategi systems of sustainable infrastruture to support growth, inluding water and wastewater servies and flood defenes. In the shorter term, greenhouse gas emissions and emerging shortages of apaity in several setors have the potential to hamper environmental, soial and eonomi progress. In this ontext, the reommendations ontained in The State of Ireland 2018, informed by our expert advisory panels, highlight two-year and five-year priority ations whih are neessary to improve the performane of our infrastruture networks. Finally, I would like to aknowledge the time and expertise of those who ontributed to The State of Ireland 2018 projet. I would partiularly like to thank the President of Engineers Ireland, Peter Quinn, and Professor Mihael Bruen for hairing our two advisory groups. I firmly believe that projets suh as this embody Engineers Ireland s vision: A ommunity of reative professionals delivering solutions for soiety. Caroline Spillane Diretor General July 2018 ii

4 The State of Ireland 2018 Exeutive Summary The State of Ireland 2018 is an independent assessment of Ireland s infrastruture. Now in its eighth year, the series of reports provides expert-led insights on six ritial setors of infrastruture. This year s report fouses on water / wastewater and flooding infrastruture and provides shorter updates on the fous areas of previous State of Ireland reports: energy, transport, ommuniations and waste. This year, both water / wastewater and flooding reeive a C grade, meaning that these setors of infrastruture are inadequately maintained and/or unable to meet peak demand, and require signifiant investment. In fat, two expert advisory panels and 1,000 of our Chartered Engineers independently arrived at a C grade for these fous areas and our infrastruture overall. This assessment reognises that while Ireland has made signifiant progress in some areas, others lag behind, i.e. the quality of Ireland s infrastruture is variable. A large body of work has been arried out by organisations suh as the Offie of Publi Works and Irish Water to identify infrastruture needs and to inform the National Development Plan and National Planning Framework (Projet Ireland 2040). A key theme of The State of Ireland 2018 is the implementation of existing Government plans by highlighting priority projets and solutions to some of the barriers to industry. For water / wastewater infrastruture, Engineers Ireland s analysis fouses on reliably proteting publi health, safeguarding the environment and supporting future development. The assessment spans water resoures, publi water supply, publi wastewater, and private water supply and wastewater. The reommended ations fous on reduing leakage from the water mains network, eliminating the disharge of untreated effluent and ahieving and maintaining apaity and ompliane. In the flooding area, Engineers Ireland alls for holisti flood risk management for the protetion of publi health, ritial infrastruture and the natural environment. This will require exellent and maintained flood defenes and warning systems and sustainable land-use praties. Partiular attention is paid to measuring and designing for the effets of limate hange and to the implementation of reently-published Flood Risk Management Plans. Overall, water / wastewater and flooding infrastruture play a vital role in all three pillars of sustainability. As the eonomy grows and as the need for limate ation beomes all the more pressing, the Irish State must ontinue to plan, invest in and deliver infrastruture and servies whih meet the needs of its itizens both now and in the long-term. iii

5 Exeutive Summary Engineers Ireland s Report Card on Infrastruture Water / wastewater Flooding Energy Transport Communiations Waste Overall Grading system a b d e Exeptional Good Mediore Poor Inadequate Well maintained, in good ondition, appropriate apaity and planning for future development; Aeptable standard, properly maintained, able to meet demand, though investment needed in the next five years; Inadequately maintained, and / or unable to meet peak demand, and requiring signifiant investment; Below standard, poorly maintained, frequent inability to meet apaity and requiring immediate investment to avoid adverse impat on the national eonomy; Unaeptable ondition, insuffiient apaity, and already impating on the national eonomy. iv

6 The State of Ireland 2018 Water / Wastewater Two-year reommended ations Improve the protetion of human and environmental health by providing groundwater and surfae water Soure Protetion Plans for all viable supplies and upgrade wellheads and abstration points where defiienies are immediately apparent. Undertake Drinking Water Safety Plan risk assessments and implement mitigation measures to address all high and very high risk hazardous events identified in Drinking Water Safety Plans to protet publi health. Carry out the identified upgrades on private Group Water Sheme (GWS treatment) failities listed on the GWS Remedial Ation List. Complete extensive review of the GWS setor to devise a rationalisation and amalgamation programme to form more sustainable water supplies. Redue network leakage from 44% to 40% (saving the equivalent of 10,000 Olympisized swimming pools of water per year) by saling up investment in ative leakage ontrol, supported by water mains rehabilitation and replaement. Upgrade existing key strategi infrastruture suh as the water supply at Vartry, water treatment at Cork Lee Road and wastewater treatment at Ringsend and Cork Lower Harbour. Plan for sustainable growth in aordane with the National Planning Framework and Regional Spatial & Eonomi Strategies. Progress projets suh as the Eastern & Midlands Water Supply and the Greater Dublin Drainage Projet. Target investment at the elimination of all untreated wastewater disharges and ahieve ompliane with the Urban Wastewater Treatment Diretive. Review the operation of new and existing domesti water supplies and wastewater treatment. Inentivise a major expansion of desludging of domesti wastewater treatment systems and plan for the management of sludge generated. Launh a Sustainability Eduation Programme on the water yle, water quality and the value of water, targeting in partiular domesti water and wastewater systems. Expand researh and appliation of sustainable water resoure management. Improve ross-setoral ommuniation on the implementation of existing water management with a longer term vision of implementing innovative solutions to hallenges suh as leakage ontrol, hydrauli performane and water quality. v

7 Key reommendations Five-year reommended ations Fully assess the environmental sustainability of existing abstrations in the ontext of likely future water demand and adopt a sustainable approah to water abstration by, for example, amalgamating ineffiient water supply shemes into more appropriately loated and effiient shemes. Implement a rationalisation and amalgamation programme for the GWS setor fousing on small private supplies with less than 100 domesti onnetions. Develop and implement Soure Protetion Plans for all GWS private supplies. Ahieve signifiant milestones in working towards a safe and seure drinking water supply for the entire ountry through the implementation of mitigation measures identified in Soure Protetion and Drinking Water Safety Plans. Implement effetive land use management plans within athment areas to mitigate the risks of ontamination ourring, whih should dovetail and be in onjuntion with the work to ahieve WFD ompliane. Further redue network leakage to 35% (saving the equivalent of a further 12,000 Olympi-sized swimming pools of water per year) as part of a roadmap to resoure effiieny. Ahieve and maintain ompliane with the Urban Wastewater Treatment Diretive and Drinking Water Diretive. Start onstrution on the Eastern & Midlands Water Supply Projet, the Greater Dublin Drainage Projet and other projets to ensure water and wastewater apaity in all major towns and ities. Implement the reommendations of the review of domesti water supplies and wastewater treatment with a view to transferring knowledge, ownership and aountability of lean water supplies and non-polluting wastewater treatment systems on the domesti user. vi

8 The State of Ireland 2018 Flooding Two-year reommended ations Develop a strategi plan for the effiient delivery of shemes identified in Flood Risk Management Plans (Flood Plans) and smaller shemes, drawing on international best pratie and inluding the following key omponents: o Multi-annual budgeting for the implementation of Flood Plans and a programme of proative maintenane of existing strutures and assoiated waterways; o A multi-stakeholder taskfore to review the operation of legislation and poliy governing flood risk management; o Standard methodologies for the translation of urrent knowledge on limate hange into design guidane for resilient infrastruture; o A publi engagement ampaign on flooding auses and the full array of hard and soft risk management options, inluding nature-based water retention options and managed retreat. Showase the funtioning of ompleted flood risk projets. Maintain and extend the network of permanent measurement failities (e.g. automati rain gauges, rainfall radar, water level monitoring, satellite / remote measurement and ontinuous GPS). Expedite the development of flood foreasting apability for larger athments and more populated bays around Ireland. Pilot linkages of foreasts and warnings. Prevent esalation of assets at risk from flooding, inluding oastal, espeially through the implementation of the National Planning Framework, Regional Spatial & Eonomi Strategies and loal authority development plans, in aordane with flood risk management planning guidelines. Provide national guidane and put in plae an overarhing framework whih allows different organisations to work together and develop a shared understanding of the most suitable solutions to surfae water flooding problems under a plan (surfae water management plan). Compile an inventory of groundwater flood events and establish a framework for desribing groundwater flooding extent, severity and frequeny and alulating assoiated return periods. Compile a register of all signifiant dams in Ireland. vii

9 Key reommendations Five-year reommended ations At on the outomes of the proposed review of legislation and poliy governing flood risk management. Consider whether a dediated authority with statutory powers be established to manage flood risk, pollution and land management at a athment sale. Roll out the strategi programme of Flood Plan projets in a phased and oordinated way that will enourage the organisations involved to upsale their apaity to onstrut and deliver these projets. Continue the development of the National Flood Foreasting and Warning Servie and improve loal warning systems to assist emergeny response. Progress the national Integrated Coastal Management Plan and pilot environmentally sustainable and eonomially feasible projets suh as sand engines and sand dune generation to break up wave ations. Consider wider flood risk, e.g. rural flooding and oordinated athment-based opportunities for flood risk management as part of future yles of the Floods Diretive. Undertake researh and establish appropriate design standards for flooding infrastruture with multiple benefits, e.g. integrating with water quality and environment-supporting onditions. Enhane permanent measurement and monitoring failities as well as omprehensive data systems and analysis to redue unertainties in quantifying flood risks. Develop a national database of flood risk management failities to enable the protetion of ritial infrastruture, e.g. hospitals, power stations and wastewater treatment plants. Develop and implement a system of assessment for multi-funtional dams in Ireland. viii

10 The State of Ireland 2018 Energy Reommended ations Implement the National Mitigation Plan as a step towards ahieving a low arbon, arbon resilient and sustainable eonomy. Progress the North South Interonnetor to further bolster seurity of supply and redue ost to the onsumer, as well as exploring other interonnetion options with a view to developing them if and when appropriate. The Government should lead by example, with ministers enouraged to replae their existing fossil fuel-powered ars with hybrids or eletri vehiles (EVs). Review and revise energy poliy every three to five years and inform the proess with reports on progress made, gaps to target and new tehnologial developments. Maintain investment in the transmission and distribution networks to meet the needs of a growing eonomy and the transition from fossil fuels to renewables. Explore tehnology solutions suh as energy storage and further interonnetion to address variable renewable generation. Carry out a deep retrofit of Ireland s domesti dwellings and publi buildings to redue energy demand and inrease energy effiieny. Convert the 900,000 homes that are not onneted to the gas network and whih use solid fuel or oil for heat to an appropriate eletri heating solution. Inentivise the prodution of biogas from anaerobi digestion plants to enable 20% of natural gas be displaed by biogas from the gas distribution system. Enourage industrial loations whih are off the natural gas network to implement biomass solutions for their thermal (heating/ooling) requirements. Continue to build out the neessary harging infrastruture to keep pae with EV adoption, inluding superfast hargers on inter-urban routes. Ensure publi transport is more aountable in delivering the RES-T and arbon emission targets. Enourage renewable energy in Ireland and harness Ireland s already identified naturally ourring renewable resoures. ix

11 Key reommendations Transport Reommended ations Inrease the alloation of apital investment in transport infrastruture to ensure that there are adequate funds for both the maintenane of existing assets and new build projets. Aelerate the purhase of EVs by Irish onsumers through further soft inentives suh as the use of bus orridors for eletri vehiles, revisiting the registration tax and exploring other finanial inentives. Reuse, reyle and repurpose existing transport assets, suh as onverting existing roads into speifi bus, yle and ar sharing lanes. Update Ireland s national aviation poliy to optimise the State airports for both passenger and freight purposes. Progress the planning and delivery of MetroLink. Introdue variable speed limits and multipoint tolling on the M50 to avoid an impending ongestion risis in the shortterm. Progress the planning and delivery of the M20 Cork to Limerik motorway. Bring forward onstrution on the planned N4, N5, N25/M8, N22 and N28 road projets. Develop bus priority routes, ore bus orridors and bus rapid transit routes for high frequeny bus transfers in eah of the five major urban entres. Introdue publi transport systems that utilise sustainable energy soures, suh as hybrid, eletri, ompressed natural gas (CNG) and liquid natural gas (LNG). Plan for the eletrifiation of the heavy rail network and progress essential works in preparation for the DART Expansion Programme. Begin planning for the Eastern Bypass to alleviate ongestion on the M50. Improve onnetivity of the north-west and the Atlanti Corridor to Ireland s seaports. Publish the Rosslare Europort Masterplan. Introdue an adequately funded proative planned programme of essential renewals for Ireland s heavy rail network. Expand the heavy rail fleet apaity to meet the demands of a growing eonomy and population. Inrease the longevity of route permissions beyond Environment Impat Statements to seure route orridors. Inentivise ar sharing lubs and eduate young people on the advantages of these approahes to disourage multiar households and on-street urban parking. Extend the Luas lines and provisions for Park & Ride to enourage more ommuters to leave their ars at home and take publi transport to work. Build out the CNG network as proposed. x

12 The State of Ireland 2018 Communiations Reommended ations New building developments should inlude provision for infrastruture to support broadband rollout, for example, duting for easier aess to homes and businesses. Award the ontrat for the National Broadband Plan (NBP) without delay and with expedited timelines for delivery. Support the development and deployment of farm-based appliations and digital servies, the Internet of Farm, to ensure the prosperity of the rural agri setor. Continue the intensive negotiations on Brexit-related issues, inluding agreeing a strategy to manage data post-brexit. Continue to develop the apaity of the National Cyber Seurity Centre and further engage with national and international stakeholders around proatively seuring systems and responding to inidents. Continue to redue servie osts when rates and speeds are not equal in rural / urban areas. Continue to address any barriers to ommerial deployment of broadband and mobile infrastruture and to ease the full build and rollout of the network planned under the NBP. Continue to researh and develop the network in antiipation of 5G servies. Future proof the network to ensure it is salable and omplies with any revisions to the EU broadband speed targets. xi

13 Key reommendations Waste Reommended ations Continue the roll-out of the organi waste olletion system to households and businesses and inrease indigenous treatment apaity for this stream. Additional treatment apaity (lined and unlined) is needed for the management of soil wastes. The lifetime limit for permitted failities should be inreased to help support seure and viable operations of this sale. Ensure the neessary poliy environment and infrastruture is put in plae to deliver the prevention and reyling targets as set out in the regional waste management plans and EU Cirular Eonomy Ation Plan. Compile and publish a live register of waste treatment failities to support the roll-out of future investment. Prioritise the development of indigenous waste treatment failities inluding anaerobi digestion and biologial treatment apaity, lined soil reovery apaity, mehanial proessing apaity to produe quality reylables and additional thermal reovery apaity for hazardous and non-hazardous wastes. Review the need for establishing ontingeny landfill apaity to prevent serious wasterelated events that threaten the health of itizens and our environment. xii

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15 Introdution Introdution High-quality infrastruture is an important element of a modern soiety and eonomy. It strengthens eonomi growth through enhaning effiieny, produtivity and ompetitiveness. Infrastruture also underpins soial ohesion through providing vital failities for itizens, suh as publi transport and broadband, and helps to prepare us for future hallenges suh as limate hange and Brexit. When Engineers Ireland initiated The State of Ireland projet in 2011, we wrote: Our essential aim is to ontribute to the debate on Ireland s future, to stimulate that debate and to reommend ations vital to the future prosperity of Irish soiety as well as informing the general publi. The aim of The State of Ireland 2018 projet remains the same. This year s report builds on the suess of the previous seven, providing expert-led advie for publi poliy deision making. However, it is lear that Ireland s eonomi situation has hanged dramatially in the intervening seven years. In 2011, we also wrote: In preparing this report we are ognisant of our ountry s finanial diffiulties and the limited resoures available but believe that every effort should be made to invest in produtive infrastruture, whih will always have a positive paybak. Today, our eonomy has improved and inreased resoures are being made available for infrastruture investment. Commitments in the National Development Plan are very welome and will help us to build modern apital infrastruture and publi servies that underpin sustainable eonomi growth, raise living standards and reate a sustainable environment. Role of engineers in soiety In The State of Ireland 2018, we fous our assessment on two setors of infrastruture: water / wastewater and flooding. I believe that eah of these setors demonstrates the ritial role of engineers in our soiety as well as some of the pressing hallenges that we fae. Firstly, some of our profession s most important historial ontributions ome from the water setor, where engineers were instrumental in improving publi health by providing lean drinking water on a mass sale. In this report, we profile the Vartry Water Supply Sheme whih greatly improved sanitation in Dublin City and helped to redue outbreaks of holera, typhus and other diseases assoiated with ontaminated water. We go on to reommend the upgrade of the Vartry Sheme to provide apaity and improved ondition of supplies in the region into the future. Looking to the future, our soiety faes major hallenges in mitigating and adapting to the effets of limate hange. For example, an inreased likelihood of severe weather events means that engineers will be to the forefront of defending ommunities and businesses against inreased flooding risk. Moreover, as a soiety, we need to ensure that our system of spatial planning is sustainable, holisti and long-term in horizon. On that note, I would like to aknowledge the ontribution of my predeessor as President of Engineers Ireland, Dr. Kieran Feighan, who advised the preparation of the National Planning Framework whih will guide Ireland s sustainable development to

16 The State of Ireland 2018 Engaging our Chartered Engineers As the professional body for engineers, Engineers Ireland awards the registered professional title of Chartered Engineer, the badge of exellene in engineering. Earlier this year, we asked 1,000 of our Chartered Engineers to assess the urrent state of Ireland s infrastruture. 58% said that Ireland s infrastruture is not in good ondition and does not have apaity for future development. Meanwhile, just 20% of the Chartered Engineers said that Ireland s infrastruture is in good ondition with apaity for future development. The Chartered Engineers were also asked to grade the ondition and apaity of various setors of infrastruture in Ireland, using a sale: A (exeptional), B (good), C (mediore), D (poor) and E (inadequate). They deisively awarded Ireland s infrastruture an overall C grade. The water / wastewater and flooding setors also reeived C grades, though the Chartered Engineers were more onerned with the ondition and apaity of these setors, eah oming lose to reeiving a D grade. Ireland s infrastruture is in good ondition with apaity for future development n = 1,000 Chartered Engineers 58% 20% 22% Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree % 38% 31% 11% 39% 37% 24% 55% A (Exeptional) B (Good) C (Mediore) D (Poor) E (Inadequate) 0 10% Water / Wastewater 12% Flooding 18% 3% Infrastuture overall The State of Ireland 2018 We believe that problems that fae the world an be solved olletively, with engineers aross all disiplines working together with others, and supported by a responsive and responsible publi poliy framework. As in previous years, Engineers Ireland onvened expert advisory groups to help us to develop reommendations for the improvement of Ireland s infrastruture. The membership of these groups spanned the publi and private setors and the various engineering disiplines and sientifi fields. Over the ourse of ten meetings, these engineering and sientifi experts independently developed assessment riteria, awarded grades and rafted key reommendations for two-year and five-year ations for water / wastewater and flooding infrastruture. I would like to sinerely thank these advisory 2

17 Introdution group members for ontributing their expertise to this report and for giving of their time so generously. I would partiularly like to thank Professor Mihael Bruen for hairing our flooding advisory group. We were also delighted by the partiipation of engineers based in Northern Ireland. While our grades and reommended ations are foused on the Republi of Ireland, we have sought to ensure the relevane of this doument for the island as a whole. In the ontext of unertainty surrounding Brexit, ross-border ollaboration, onnetivity and mobility remain ritial. Engineers Ireland, as an all-island body (with international branhes in Great Britain and Australia/New Zealand), is ideally plaed to failitate these links. In onlusion, The State of Ireland 2018 sets out the solutions that need to be delivered if we are to meet urrent and future environmental, soial and eonomi hallenges. However, the realisation of these solutions will be impossible without expanded industry apaity and a larger engineering workfore. I would therefore like to enourage any young person urrently onsidering their areer options to join us in reating and delivering these solutions for soiety. Peter Quinn Chartered Engineer President of Engineers Ireland Chair of the State of Ireland Steering Group Advisory group members Brendan Brie, RPS Paddy Brow, NI Water Prof. Mihael Bruen, UCD Dr Ciaran Byrne, Inland Fisheries Ireland Malolm Calvert, Department for Infrastruture NI John Casey, Irish Water Dr Eoghan Clifford, NUI Galway Jonathan Cooper, JBA Consulting Engineers Oliver Dalton, Roads & Transportation Soiety Barry Deane, National Federation of Group Water Shemes Sinéad Duffy, Met Éireann Pat Duggan, Department of Housing, Planning & Loal Government Dr Kieran Feighan, Past President of Engineers Ireland Mihael Goss, Civil Division Bill Gowdy, MAdam Design Joe Higgins, Veolia Ireland Mihelle Hotor, Engineers Ireland Vinent Hussey, Offie of Publi Works John Kane, Energy & Environment Division Dr Kevin Kelleher, HSE Emer Kennedy, Arup Monia Lee, Geologial Survey Ireland Brian Mangan, Consultant Hydrologist Katherine Walshe, Irish Water Dr Rihard Manton, Engineers Ireland Dr Ted MCormak, Geologial Survey Ireland Martin MIlwaine, NI Water (retired) Dr Owen Naughton, Geologial Survey Ireland Patrik Neary, Department of Communiations, Climate Ation & Environment Barry O Connor, Mott MaDonald Ireland Gerard O Connell, Dublin City Counil Gerry O Donoghue, Irish Water Dr Billy O Keeffe, Transport Infrastruture Ireland Jim Oliver, Niholas O Dwyer David O'Riordan, Engineers Ireland Damien Owens, Engineers Ireland Darragh Page, Environmental Protetion Ageny Warren Phelan, RPS David Porter, Department for Infrastruture NI Peter Quinn, President of Engineers Ireland, Chair of the State of Ireland Steering Group John Paul Rooney, Roughan & O Donovan Peter Smyth, Jaobs Engineering Tony Smyth, Offie of Publi Works Vitor van der Walt, Irish Water Karl Zimmerer, Glan Agua Ltd 3

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19 Water / Wastewater Water / Wastewater Safe and reliable water supplies are essential to publi health, the natural environment and to soial and eonomi progress. Aording to the World Health Organisation and UNICEF, more than 2 billion people around the world lak aess to safe, readily available water at home, while 4.5 billion do not have safely managed sanitation. Climate hange is worsening the global water risis as weather patterns beome more variable and extreme, leading to droughts in some areas and flooding in others. The water we use must be abstrated from surfae or groundwater soures and treated to a high standard before it is distributed to households and businesses. The subsequent wastewater must be olleted, treated and disharged to protet human health and the environment and to ensure the sustainability of water resoures. The water / wastewater setor thus requires substantial infrastruture and highly-qualified engineers and other professionals to plan, design, build, operate and maintain this infrastruture. However, the urrent state of water supply and wastewater infrastruture in Ireland is urrently unable to meet peak demand and is at risk of failing to protet publi health and the natural environment. Our urrent network of water and wastewater assets is very fragmented and some elements date bak to the 19th entury. We have partiular onerns for the disharging of untreated effluent, levels of leakage from the mains supply network, ompliane in the private water and wastewater setor and the apaity to meet future demand. We have therefore given this setor of infrastruture a grade C. Sustained investment in our ountry s water servies is ritial to move towards our vision for this setor of infrastruture. Upgrading water and wastewater networks will require long-term planning, over many investment yles, to meet the needs of this and future generations. Engineers Ireland s vision Water supply and wastewater infrastruture that reliably protets publi health, safeguards the environment and supports future development. 5

20 The State of Ireland 2018 Sustainability and long-term planning To ensure the protetion of publi health and the natural environment, water and wastewater servies are subjet to a framework of EU poliy and legislation. For example, quality standards for the treatment of water supplies must meet the requirements of the Drinking Water Diretive (DWD). Similarly, the Urban Waste Water Treatment Diretive (UWWTD) sets standards for the treatment of wastewater. Meanwhile, the Water Framework Diretive (WFD) aims to ahieve at least good status for all water bodies as part of integrated water management. Considerable work is required to ahieve and maintain Ireland s ompliane with these diretives. Furthermore, investment in water and wastewater infrastruture must be oordinated as part of the planning proess to ensure the effiient provision of servies and to support future development. For example, strategi water servies will be required to support priority housing developments. The National Planning Framework demonstrates the need for a resilient water supply to meet the needs of an additional one million people by One of the NPF s National Poliy Objetives is to: Ensure the effiient and sustainable use and development of water resoures and water servies infrastruture in order to manage and onserve water resoures in a manner that supports a healthy soiety, eonomi development requirements and a leaner environment. The National Development Plan meanwhile estimates that investment of lose to 14 billion will be required in publi water and wastewater infrastruture over the period 2018 to the mid-2030s, on a strutured and phased basis. In line with the NDP, Irish Water will invest 8.5 billion in publi water and wastewater infrastruture over the next ten years. Irish Water as a national water utility Water and wastewater infrastruture was historially developed and administered within loal authority boundaries, rather than at the river basin or regional level as part of a national strategy. This fragmented approah led to the development of smaller treatment plants with highly variable performane. Engineers Ireland has long argued that a single national utility should be established (see Delivering Ireland s water servies for the 21st entury (Engineers Ireland & Irish Aademy of Engineering, 2011)). Irish Water was established by the Water Servies At 2013 as the State-owned national water utility. Irish Water developed a seven-year business plan, whih sets out the organisation s vision and a set of key deliverables aross areas suh as apital investment and ustomer servie. A new funding model for Irish Water was agreed by Government in September 2017 whereby the organisation is funded by the Exhequer for the delivery of domesti water servies, inluding apital investment. In May, the Department of Housing, Planning and Loal Government published the Water Servies Poliy Statement This sets out four high-level priniples to inform water servies poliy ativities: One single publily owned water servies authority; Fair and effiient delivery with a ustomer fous; Priority health and environmental quality outomes aross setor; and, Ways of working to support partnership and exellent stakeholder engagement. The Statement informs Irish Water s forthoming investment plan, also required under the Water Servies No. 2 At It should also be noted that Irish Water s performane is subjet to review by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU). In Northern Ireland, water servies are delivered by NI Water and an overview is provided at the end of this hapter. 6

21 Water / Wastewater Water overview Publi mains The majority of Ireland's households get their drinking water from the publi mains supply. Most of this water is taken from surfae water soures suh as reservoirs, rivers and lakes. Supplies from groundwater tend to be muh smaller. Irish Water is responsible for the abstration, treatment, storage and distribution of publi mains water from soure to onsumer. Group shemes Where there is no publi mains supply, a ommunity may share a ommon water supply from a well, spring or lake to form a Group Water Sheme (GWS). Irish Water manages the abstration and treatment of water for publi GWSs, while water distribution is managed by the loal ommunity group. For private GWSs, abstration, treatment and distribution are all managed by the loal ommunity group. GWSs vary in size from a ouple of households to hundreds, sometimes thousands, of ommunity onnetions (domesti, agriultural and industrial). Private supplies Groundwater is usually the only soure of supply in rural areas not served by the publi mains or GWSs. There are estimated to be more than 100,000 private boreholes, dug wells and springs in use. Groundwater is a natural, lean resoure but an be polluted. It is important that well owners are aware of any risks, and test their water regularly. The responsibility for managing the household well rests with the householder. 27% Wastewater overview Publi wastewater The majority of wastewater is olleted from homes, businesses, surfae runoff et. and onveyed through the publi sewer system to wastewater treatment plants, operated by Irish Water. Wastewater then undergoes a omplex treatment proess before disharge into water bodies, ensuring that the surrounding environment is not harmed. Domesti wastewater Where publi wastewater failities are not available, domesti wastewater treatment systems are used. This wastewater is treated onsite, typially in septi tanks, and the exess sludge is periodially removed for further treatment by a private ontrator. If not managed and treated appropriately, domesti wastewater may ontaminate private and publi water supplies, groundwater, and surfae water, ausing harm to human health and the natural environment. 4% 69% Publi Wastewater Individual septi tank Other 3% 7% 11% 80% Publi mains Publi group sheme Private group sheme Other private sheme Household water and wastewater (Census 2016) 7

22 The State of Ireland 2018 Vartry Water Supply Sheme Prior to the 1860s, most of Dublin s drinking water was soured from the Royal and Grand Canals, whih offered limited supplies of low pressure, unlean water. The poor quality of drinking water resulted in large-sale outbreaks of holera in the 1860s more than 1,000 deaths were traed diretly to a single publi water tap whih was ontaminated with sewage. In 1852, Dr John Gray was eleted to Dublin City Counil where he gained a reputation for his interest in improving the lot of the impoverished. In 1853, Dr Gray was eleted to the Waterworks Committee, and began work on improving the water supply for Dublin. He identified the River Vartry, rising below the Sugar Loaf Mountain in Co Wiklow, as the best potential soure for the ity. In what would beome known as the Vartry sheme, the first stones were turned on site in It involved building two major reservoirs to the south of Roundwood, Co Wiklow, a water treatment plant, a 4km-long tunnel under Callowhill, and 65km of trunk water mains to deliver water to the ity via the Stillorgan reservoir. The projet was regarded, then and now, as an inredible feat of engineering. It was offiially opened on 30th June The new supply projet resulted in signifiant improvements in the quality of life of Dublin s population. It greatly improved sanitation in Dublin City and helped to redue outbreaks of holera, typhus and other diseases assoiated with ontaminated water. plant does not onform to modern drinking water regulations, the tunnel is in danger of ollapse, and the reservoir draw-off failities need to be rebuilt to ensure the safety of the struture. Irish Water is making a signifiant investment ( 150 million) in the sheme to ensure a safe and sustainable water supply for the north Wiklow and south Dublin areas. This investment will ensure that water provided omplies with water quality standards set out in the EU Drinking Water Diretive and the national Drinking Water Regulations. The works are foused on seuring the existing supply, and no additional water will be abstrated from the Vartry reservoirs or athment area. The Vartry Water Supply Sheme upgrade will involve a new WTP on the site of the existing plant; a 4km pipeline to seure the transfer of treated water from Vartry to Callowhill; deommissioning the existing water treatment plant; deommissioning the Vartry tunnel to allow for remediation works to be arried out; replaing ageing pipes and fittings within the dam of the Vartry reservoir; and improvements to the Vartry dam spillway to allow for more intense rainfall events resulting in larger spills from the reservoir to ensure publi safety. Upgrade The Vartry Water Supply Sheme provides drinking water for a supply area strething from Roundwood, through north Wiklow up to south Dublin and serves more than 200,000 people or about 15% of the population of the Greater Dublin Area. However, the treatment plant and infrastruture have reeived no major upgrade sine being built more than 150 years ago, and the supply is now in deline. The water treatment 8

23 Water / Wastewater Water resoures d Soure protetion Soure availability Abstration Water Framework Diretive The aim of the WFD is to protet / enhane all ground and surfae waters (suh as rivers, lakes, transitional waters and oastal waters) and their dependent habitats and wildlife. All waters must ahieve good status, based on biologial, hydromorphologial, physial-hemial and hemial quality. Ireland s surfae water resoures extend to 70,000 km of river hannel, 12,000 lakes, 850 km2 of estuaries and 13,000 km2 of oastal waters. These resoures supply approximately 75% of the ountry s drinking water. Groundwater, meanwhile, is all water below the surfae of the ground in the saturation zone and in diret ontat with the ground or subsoil. Groundwater provides approximately 20-25% of drinking water supplies. The major auses of redued water quality inlude pollution from agriulture, urban wastewater (sewage and runoff), domesti wastewater and hanges to the aquati environment as a result of peat extration, invasive speies et. Proteting water from ontamination at its soure helps to ensure a safe supply and to redue treatment osts. The figure below shows the eologial status of surfae water bodies and groundwater based on monitoring arried out by the EPA between 2010 and While the vast majority of monitored groundwater and oastal waters are regarded as good, a large proportion of rivers, lakes and transitional waters have yet to be restored to good status. Overall, levels of pollution have remained relatively onstant sine the beginning of the 1990s. However, there has been a substantial loss in the number of sites where the highest quality waters are found. For example, between 2013 and 2015, 21 rivers were lassified as the highest quality, ompared with 575 between 1987 and This is an area where substantial effort is required to protet the few remaining highest quality rivers and return impated ones, where feasible, bak to their earlier high quality. Rivers 10% 46% 25% 18% 1% Lakes 11% 35% 33% 12% 8% A (High) B (Good) Transitional waters 13% 19% 49% 15% 5% C (Moderate) D (Poor) Coastal water 23% 56% 16% 5% E (Bad) Groundwater 91% 9%

24 The State of Ireland 2018 River Basin Management Plans Another element of the WFD is the introdution of river basin distrits - previously, water resoures were not managed on a athment basis. River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) set out the measures aimed at proteting and enhaning the quality of water resoures by identifying the pressures on water bodies at risk of not meeting the objetives of the WFD. The RBMPs prioritise water bodies and oordinate ations between a variety of stakeholders. Ireland s first RBMP overed the period , when separate plans were prepared for eah individual river basin distrit. The seond RBMP, whih was published in April 2018 and overs the period , takes a new approah to river basin management planning. Ireland is now taking a single river basin distrit approah with a muh improved evidene base and publi engagement to underpin deision making, at both national and loal level. The Irish River Basin Distrit overs the area of the Republi of Ireland in 46 athment management units, inluding 583 subathments with 4,832 water bodies. Cross-border ollaboration will be required to ensure the effetive implementation of the RBMP. The expeted outomes of the RBMP are: 255 urban waste-water treatment projets progressed 73m invested to redue water leakage to 38% Dairy Sustainability Initiative and Agriultural Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme 4,000 inspetions under the National Inspetion Plan for Domesti Waste Water Treatment Systems 3,000+ water abstrations registered and an authorisation system implemented 726 water bodies to ahieve general water quality improvements 152 water bodies to experiene improved water quality status Some of the RBMP measures are disussed in more detail in other setions of this report, inluding: drinking water soure protetion, wastewater treatment and publi engagement on sustainability. Groundwater management The land area that ontributes water to a well or spring is known as the Zone of Contribution (ZoC). The ZoC is delineated to define the approximate area ontributing to the abstration point. Meanwhile, the Soure Protetion Zone (SPZ) additionally shows the risk of ontamination to groundwater within the ZoC of a soure. This information should be used to manage and ontrol ativities whih have the potential to impat on the quality of water to be abstrated for drinking water. SPZs take into aount vertial and horizontal water (and possible ontaminants) movement within the ZoC towards the point of abstration. Another ritial aspet that needs to be onsidered is the risk of ontamination diretly at the point of abstration due to inadequate borehole onstrution. Artile 7 of the WFD requires Member States to provide the neessary protetion for waters used or to be used for drinking water and Member States may establish safeguard zones for those bodies of water, whih are in effet the athment area for the water supply. The SPZs ould be onsidered as the basis for these safeguard zones in the future. However, information regarding soure protetion is urrently inadequate there is a need to delineate SPZ/ZoCs. Supplies that have full SPZ reports an make informed deisions on athment management (dealing with mirobial and hemial ontaminants). Supplies that will be retained as an asset, but without any SPZ/ZoC, need to have the work undertaken. Existing ZoC reports should be upgraded to full SPZ reports. For publi supplies, groundwater SPZ/ZoC status is urrently poorer than surfae water (from whih most publi supply is abstrated). A work programme of enhaning the quality of these supplies should be based on priority ations for the most urgent ases, suh as the largest and most vulnerable supplies, whih is identified through the prodution of SPZ/ZoC reports. 10

25 Water / Wastewater For GWSs, existing ZoC reports are medium onfidene in most ases (due to smaller size and population). GWSs should onsider full SPZ / extra hydrogeologial work for more omplex (e.g. karst) and / or large shemes with unknowns. All GWS ZoC work should be ompleted by the end of 2018 (inluding any follow-on work suh as traer testing et). Ations, suh as wellhead protetion, should be progressed in ollaboration with the NFGWS. For domesti (individual) supplies, it is not realisti to have bespoke SPZ/ZoCs, but they should have adequate wellhead protetion, inluding grouting to mitigate loalised ontamination, whih generally does not exist. The onstrution of future domesti supplies should omply with IGI guidelines and EPA advie. Also, other ativities need to reord well loations during planning phases, whih is not onsistently happening. There are urrently many water supply zones whih fail to meet the European and Irish Drinking Water standards for mirobiologial and hemial parameters or have signifiant operational, maintenane or apaity problems at individual treatment plants, giving rise to water quality risks. This inludes ustomers who have a Boil Water Notie due to mirobiologial ontamination in their water supplies. For groundwater soure protetion, it is absolutely essential that boreholes and wellheads are properly onstruted, that pollutants are prevented from entering the well and that it is proteted against flooding, other aidental damage and vandalism. Hydrogeologists need to be inluded at all stages of groundwater abstration development and SPZ 2YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION Improve the protetion of human and environmental health by providing groundwater and surfae water Soure Protetion Plans for all viable supplies and upgrade wellheads and abstration points where defiienies are immediately apparent. Expand researh and appliation of sustainable water resoure management. delineation - this has been laking in the past. Hydrologists and other environmental sientists are likewise ritial for the sustainable abstration and management of surfae water resoures. National Water Resoures Plan While Ireland has plentiful water resoures, the availability of safe and seure drinking water is related to the sustainability of abstration and the effetiveness of treatment. Nationally, there are adequate water resoures, however, soures do not always align with high density population areas, whih plae signifiant demand on available resoures. Irish Water is urrently developing a National Water Resoures Plan to set out how they plan to ahieve and maintain a sustainable, seure and reliable drinking water supply over the short, medium and long term whilst minimising impat on the environment. This will involve assessing urrent and future supplies and demand to identify shortfalls and plan for alternatives. The National Water Resoures Plan must onsider the impat of weather onditions on soure availability, partiularly in the ontext of limate hange. For example, thousands of homes in Dublin faed water restritions during Storm Emma in Marh Future drought events ould also threaten supplies. 5YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION Implement effetive land use management plans within athment areas to mitigate the risks of ontamination ourring, whih should dovetail and be in onjuntion with the work to ahieve EU Water Framework Diretive ompliane. Fully assess the environmental sustainability of existing abstrations in the ontext of likely future water demand and adopt a sustainable approah to water abstration by, for example, amalgamating ineffiient water supply shemes into more appropriately loated and effiient shemes. 11

26 The State of Ireland 2018 Publi water supply d d Did you know? Large-sale treatment Small-sale treatment Distribution network Demand management Irish Water is responsible for supplying water to over 80% of the population as well as to businesses, hospitals and other bodies. This requires the abstration, treatment and distribution of more than 1,600 million Litres of water eah day (MLD), the equivalent of 640 Olympi-sized swimming pools. An Olympi-sized swimming pool is 50 metres long, 25 metres wide and 2 metres deep. Its volume is therefore 50 m x 25 m x 2 m = 2500 m 3 = 2,500,000 Litres = 2.5 ML. Treatment Under the Drinking Water Diretive, the EPA is the drinking water regulator for publi supplies. The EPA audits these supplies and an issue legal diretion to Irish Water where there is a risk to human health. While the quality of publi drinking water supplies is high, the EPA has identified a number of shemes whih pose a risk and has plaed these on the Remedial Ation List (RAL) shown on the next page. The priorities identified by the EPA are: upgrading disinfetion systems, minimising Trihalomethanes (THMs), eliminating lead from pipes, preventing pestiides from entering water, and ompleting Drinking Water Safety Plans (DWSPs). DWSPs adopt a risk assessment approah by identifying hazards, severity and likelihood and proposing mitigation measures. As DWSPs are more proative, they ould replae the RAL as the main drivers of investment in publi water supplies. Irish Water manages approximately 800 water treatment plants, 70% of whih are small (less than 1 MLD). Historially onstrained by funding, small shemes have suffered from deades of underinvestment. For large-sale treatment (more than 1 MLD), investment has been better, yet on a shemeby sheme basis and has favoured larger one-off projets. Future investment should be targeted at the RAL and at DWSP mitigation measures. A safe and seure water supply is essential for our personal health as well as the eonomi health of the ountry. Residential developments (suh as those envisaged in Rebuilding Ireland) and industrial developments need water onnetions and network apaity. The publi water supply is therefore a strategi omponent of long-term spatial and eonomi planning. However, a signifiant proportion of our water treatment plants (more than 40%) have less than the reommended 15% headroom. To support residential and industrial developments, partiularly in the ontext of Projet Ireland 2040, apaity must be inreased at strategi loations. For example, upgrading the Vartry Water Supply Sheme (profiled in the previous setion) and the Cork Lee Road Water Treatment Plant is ritial to the sustainable growth of our largest and seond largest ities. 2&5YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION 2YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION Undertake DWSP risk assessments and implement mitigation measures to address all high and very high risk hazardous events to protet publi health. Within five years, ahieve signifiant milestones in working towards a safe and seure drinking water supply for the entire ountry. Upgrade existing key strategi water infrastruture suh as the Vartry Water Supply Sheme (Wiklow) and the Lee Road Water Treatment Plant (Cork). 12

27 Water / Wastewater Remedial Ation List for publi water supplies The RAL is a register of publi water supplies whih are deemed by the EPA to be at risk. Updated quarterly, at the end of April 2018, there were 72 supplies on the RAL, serving a total of 632,452 people. Most of these supplies are on the RAL due to a hemial failure, e.g. THMs. Irish Water must take orretive ation to manage these safety and seurity risks, inluding upgrading treatment plants, abandoning treatment plants and onneting to alternative treatment plants, and replaing water soures. The table below shows the population served by eah of the water supplies on the RAL. Kingsourt, Co. Cavan 2,869 Central Regional Lough Guitane, Co. Kerry 58,488 Corofin, Co. Clare 1,310 Mountain Stage, Co. Kerry 1,570 Ennistymon RWS, Co. Clare 7,881 Shrone, Co. Kerry 913 West Clare RWS 12,047 Bennettsbridge Regional WS, Co. Kilkenny 4,494 Adrigole, Co. Cork 235 Glenmore, Co. Kilkenny 156 Ballyhooly, Co. Cork 1,125 Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny 1,590 Cahermore, Co. Cork 39 Kilkenny City (Radestown) WS 14,796 Allihies, Co. Cork 87 Kilkenny City (Troyswood) WS 13,344 Crookhaven, Co. Cork 136 Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerik 6,892 Drimoleague, Co. Cork 692 Croom, Co. Limerik 1,764 Durrus, Co. Cork 397 Hospital, Co. Limerik 1,065 Glengarriff, Co. Cork 443 Newastle West, Co. Limerik 9,702 Kealkill, Co. Cork 621 Ballymahon, Co. Longford 7,451 Leap, Co. Cork 536 Gowna, Co. Longford 4,174 Shull, Co. Cork 1,037 Granard, Co. Longford 2,432 Whiddy Island, Co. Cork 45 Longford Central 15,353 Cork City Water Supply 90,224 South Louth East Meath 71,138 Cashilard, Co. Donegal 367 Drumondrath, Co. Meath 1,214 Creeslough, Co. Donegal 3,175 Navan & MidMeath PWS 39,548 Glenties-Ardara, Co. Donegal 3,625 Lough Egish RWSS, Co. Monaghan 10,474 Gortahork-Falarragh, Co. Donegal 4,162 Grangemore, Co. Rosommon 1,532 Greenastle, Co. Donegal 1,385 North Rosommon RWSS 7,946 Owenteskna/Kilar, Co. Donegal 2,784 Lough Talt RWS, Co. Sligo 12,695 Letterkenny, Co. Donegal 25,289 Clonmel Poulavanogue, Co. Tipperary 2,711 Milford-Letterkenny, Co. Donegal 1,963 Lismore, Co. Waterford 290 Ballyboden, Co. Dublin 37,057 Ring/Helvik, Co. Waterford 661 Roundwood, DLR 31,584 Stradbally, Co. Waterford 639 Ballinasloe RWSS, Co. Galway 8,525 Sow Regional, Co. Wexford 11,245 Williamstown, Co. Galway 987 Aughrim / Annaurra, Co. Wiklow 1,588 Barraduff, Co. Kerry 642 Avoa / Ballinlash, Co. Wiklow 1,419 Caherdaniel, Co. Kerry 215 Enniskerry Publi Supply, Co. Wiklow 2,743 Caragh Lake, Co. Kerry 2,272 Wiklow Regional Publi Supply 15,277 Castleove, Co. Kerry 192 Bray, Co. Wiklow 29,617 Kenmare, Co. Kerry 2,858 Greystones, Co. Wiklow 16,288 Kilgarvan, Co. Kerry 785 Kilmaanogue, Co. Wiklow 1,392 Lyranes, Co. Kerry 85 Newtown Newastle Kiloole, Co. Wiklow 12,175 13

28 The State of Ireland 2018 Distribution and demand management Following treatment, water is distributed through the publi water supply network. Irish Water distributes approximately 1,660 million Litres of treated water eah day (MLD). For Ireland s population size, this is a very high abstration rate. However, domesti meter data shows that atual onsumption in Ireland is in line with European norms (approx. 130 L per person per day). Almost half (45% in 2017) of treated water does not reah homes, shools, businesses et. as it is lost through network leakage. Water use MLD Domesti demand % Non-domesti demand % Network losses % Operational demand 16 1% Total (distribution input) 1666 Soure: River Basin Management Plan Ireland s high level of leakage is the result of an old water mains network, in poor ondition with signifiant underinvestment over many deades. Ireland s water mains are generally years old, while the average age in the EU is 36 years. Ireland s older pipes are prone to rusting (ast iron), leaking and bursting in both urban and rural areas. Some pipe bursts are visible at ground level or reported by ustomers with supply interruptions, however, many bursts annot be seen above ground. Other leaks are small and our through seepage at joints. Irish Water s Business Plan target is to redue leakage to 38% in Compared to 2015 levels, this saving would represent approximately 166 MLD or the equivalent of 24,000 Olympi-sized swimming pools of water per year or 66 Olympi-sized swimming pools eah day. Irish Water plans to invest 73 million eah year to ahieve this target and is urrently establishing a Leakage Management System for prioritisation and reporting. For the purposes of this report, if the network leakage rate is taken as 44% at the end of 2018, Engineers Ireland believes an ambitious and realisti target would be a redution to 40% within two years and to 35% within five years omparable to the leakage rate in Sotland. If these targets are ahieved, in five years time, the water equivalent of 22,000 Olympi-sized swimming pools will no longer be leaking into the ground eah year and will be available to support our growing population. Over the five years as a whole, 70,000 Olympi-sized swimming pools of water will have been saved. 2&5YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION 2YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION Redue network leakage by saling up investment in ative leakage ontrol, supported by water mains rehabilitation and replaement. Target a redution to 40% within two years and to 35% within five years as part of a roadmap to resoure effiieny. However, there are limitations to the potential for mains replaement as it is ostly, labour intensive and disruptive. Irish Water urrently targets a 1% annual mains replaement rate, 630 km eah year. By 2040, the utility aims to ahieve a sustainable level of leakage - one where the finanial and environmental ost of fixing the leak is greater than the ost of the leaking water. In the UK, this level is onsidered to be 18-22% of treated water. Beyond network leakage, it is estimated that 10% of treated water is lost in leakage at the private side of the stopok. Analysis of domesti metering data by the CRU and CSO shows that a small number of households are using a very large amount of water, e.g. 7% of households onsume 31% of water. These losses are being redued through the First Fix Free sheme. A harging mehanism will also be put in plae for domesti water onsumption above an agreed threshold. Improve ross-setoral ommuniation on the implementation of existing water management with a longer-term vision of implementing innovative solutions to hallenges suh as leakage ontrol, hydrauli performane and water quality. 14

29 Water / Wastewater Supply in the Greater Dublin Area Headroom is the differene between supply available (known as Water Available For Use, WAFU) and estimated demand (distribution input). Irish Water targets 15% headroom (and 5% operational outage) for the Greater Dublin Area. However, headroom is urrently just 2%, leaving Dublin and the wider region exposed to water shortages with signifiant soial and eonomi impats. Indeed, the region has faed several water restritions in reent months. Supply (WAFU) in the region is urrently 598 MLD and works are underway at treatment plants to inrease this by 63 MLD to 661 MLD by However, supplies are limited to this figure due to the hydrologial yield of urrent soures. Meanwhile, groundwater soures tend to yield muh smaller volumes of water and an infeasible network of boreholes and mains over a very large area would be required. On the demand side, population growth is plaing severe pressure on the system. Based on population and eonomi projetions, the wider Eastern and Midlands Region will require an additional 330 MLD by Even allowing for redutions in network leakage to 20% (saving 64 MLD) and ustomer side leakage (saving 11 MLD), demand (average day peak week, ADPW) is projeted to inrease to 893 MLD by 2050 meaning a major defiit Supply (WAFU) Demand (ADPW) Defiit Data in MLD; Soure: Irish Water, Jaobs & Tobin Finally, 84% of the water supplies in County Dublin (and majority of Kildare and Wiklow) are urrently soured from the River Liffey (Ballymore Eustae and Leixlip WTPs), while 11% is soured from the River Vartry. This reliane on a small number of supplies leaves the region open to a variety of risk fators whih ould disrupt supply. A new soure would provide greater resiliene for the region. The Water Supply Projet The Water Supply Projet, Eastern and Midlands Region (WSP) aims to be the first major new water soure in the region for more than 60 years. One omplete, the WSP will meet the domesti and ommerial water needs of more than 40% of the Irish population beyond It is estimated to ost between 1.2 billion and 1.3 billion. The projet has been progressed by Irish Water sine 2014 as part of the utility s responsibility to provide seure, reliable and sustainable water supplies. The projet team identified and assessed a very wide array of supply options to meet the needs of the region. Tehnially feasible options inluded abstrating and piping water from the River Shannon (diret or with storage) or desalination from the Irish Sea. Abstration from the Lower River Shannon was identified as the preferred option due to osteffetiveness, environmental impat and benefit provided to the wider region through aess to the pipeline of treated water. It is proposed that abstration will take plae at the Parteen Basin with water treated nearby in Birdhill, Co. Tipperary. The treated water will be piped 170 km, through the midlands, to the Peamount Reservoir in South Dublin. Non-statutory publi onsultation has taken plae at eah stage of the projet, from projet need and options appraisal. Irish Water intends to submit a planning appliation to An Bord Pleanála in The Bord will then ondut a statutory publi onsultation proess before making a deision on the projet. If approved, onstrution and ommissioning would require 3-4 years. 2&5YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION Plan for sustainable growth, in aordane with the National Planning Framework and Regional Spatial & Eonomi Strategies, by progressing planning on the Eastern & Midlands Region Water Supply Projet. Within five years, start onstrution on the WSP and other projets to ensure water apaity in all major towns and ities. 15

30 The State of Ireland 2018 Publi wastewater e d Irish Water is responsible for providing wastewater servies to more than two-thirds of the population. There are approximately 25,000 km of publi foul and ombined sewer, over 1,800 pumping stations, an estimated 2,000 overflows (exluding stormwater drainage infrastruture see flooding hapter) and approximately 1100 WWTPs. The UWWTD sets standards for Member States olletion, treatment and disharge of wastewater from large urban areas. In 2016, the EPA identified 50 urban areas whih did not meet these standards and 44 areas where raw sewage was disharging into the sea, rivers et. The European Commission has taken Ireland to the European Court of Justie due to breahes at 38 loations. Untreated wastewater disharges must be eliminated to safeguard water quality, human health and the natural environment. 2&5YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION Colletion Large-sale treatment Small-sale treatment Sludge management and treatment Target investment at the elimination of all untreated wastewater disharges and ahieving ompliane with the UWWTD. Within five years, ahieve and maintain ompliane with the Diretive. Colletion While there are data limitations (for example, due to a lak of valid hydrauli models and digitisation of infrastruture), it is lear that signifiant setions of the wastewater olletion network are in very poor strutural ondition, e.g. based on surveys to date, 17% of sewer pipe runs are in poor strutural ondition. These defets an also result in high groundwater infiltration rates whih erodes available apaity. There are some elements within the networks that pose partiular risks, where the onsequene of failure an be severe and prolonged and where measures are required to mitigate risk. In many ases, sewer apaity is proving adequate due to an originally onservative design, but pressure has also been plaed on the system due to a history of poor development ontrol suh that some systems intended to at as foul sewers have effetively beome ombined sewers. Advane Drainage Area Planning and gathering of asset ondition and performane data will support future infrastruture design and apaity management. Asset knowledge, and tools to predit future performane, are neessary both to manage the assets and to plan for apital investments. Treatment Approximately 19% of Irish Water s WWTPs are large sale (over 2,000 Population Equivalent (PE)), yet these plants treat the vast majority of olleted wastewater. For example, Ringsend WWTP alone treats approximately one-third of national publi wastewater. Many of these large-sale plants are relatively new and are in generally good ondition, although there is wider variation in ondition for those at the lower end of the sale (towards 2,000 PE). 16

31 Water / Wastewater Regarding small-sale treatment (less than 2,000 PE), the best asset ondition is generally assoiated with the larger plants, whereas there is a signifiant number of smaller plants (partiularly less than 1000 PE) that are in extremely poor ondition. In many ases, smaller plants are at the limit of apaity or overapaity. In some ases, the defiit is in relation to hydrauli apaity, assoiated with network issues and development ontrol. As is the ase for water supply, apaity in the wastewater network is vital to support the sustainable growth of urban areas. For example, the Ringsend WWTP is urrently operating over apaity whih is ompromising the plant s ability to ahieve UWWTD standards. Meanwhile, in Cork, millions of litres of untreated wastewater are disharging into the lower harbour, though this is being progressively addressed, (see next page). To support these major population entres and ahieve environmental ompliane, upgrades to strategi wastewater infrastruture must be delivered. 2YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION Upgrade existing key strategi wastewater infrastruture suh as the Ringsend Wastewater Treatment Plant (Dublin) and ontinue work on the Cork Lower Harbour Main Drainage Sheme. In line with the NPF and Regional Spatial & Eonomi Strategies, new wastewater projets will be required in strategi loations to enable sustainable growth. For example, Irish Water has lodged a planning appliation for the Greater Dublin Drainage Projet, a new faility to provide treatment failities to the population equivalent of 500,000 people aross the region. Sludge management and treatment The wastewater treatment proess generates sludge, an energy-rih resoure omposed of organi material and potentially ontaminants. Sludge requires further treatment before it an be reused or disposed of safely. This treatment involves: volume redution, quantity redution and biosolids prodution. After treatment, the sludge is generally reused as a biosolids prodution for agriulture. The National Wastewater Sludge Management Plan is Irish Water s strategy to sustainably manage sludge over the next 25 years. The Plan outlines measures suh as the further development of the network of hub treatment entres and satellite dewatering sites, anerobi digestion as the preferred treatment option, the introdution of a quality assurane system for the whole sludge management proess, and the development of standard operating proedures. Newer WWTPs generally have good failities for safe and effiient sludge management, however, failities at many of the older sites are inadequate. Currently, there is a reliane on third party treatment and disposal and there is inadequate apaity to manage all sludge to the required standard, and an imbalane in the spatial availability of apaity. In addition to the need for apaity for Irish Water to manage its own sludge, the projeted growth in sludge, inluding the need for apaity to manage sludges from private septi tanks, indiate that a substantial inrease in apaity is required. In addition to this, new infrastruture and upgrades are required to meet the objetives of the National Wastewater Sludge Management Plan, suh as advaned anaerobi digestion inorporating energy reovery. 2&5YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION Progress planning on the Greater Dublin Drainage Projet (GDDP) over the next two years. Within five years, start onstrution on the GDDP and other projets to ensure wastewater apaity in all major towns and ities. 17

32 State of Ireland 2018 v10.qxp_layout 1 28/06/ :38 Page 32 The State of Ireland 2018 Cork Lower Harbour Main Drainage Sheme Cork Harbour is the seond largest natural harbour in the world. Loated at the estuary of the River Lee, it has signifiant environmental importane, a rih maritime history and industrial tradition. As an eonomi hub, it supports employment, promotes tourism and is used for a variety of rereational ativities suh as fishing, rowing, swimming, sailing and windsurfing. However, untreated raw sewage has been disharging diretly into the lower harbour for deades. Eah day, 12 million Litres of wastewater (the volume of nearly 5 Olympisized swimming pools or 40,000 wheelie bins) is olleted from homes and businesses aross the lower harbour area and undergoes no treatment before being disharged into the sea. This pratie is ausing environmental damage and means that Ireland is in ontravention of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Diretive. Cobh will be olleted through new sewers and treated at a new treatment plant before safe disharge to the sea, through an outfall at Dog Nose Point. The Sheme onsists of: A new WWTP at Shanbally 14 new pumping stations 30 km of new sewers Repair work on existing sewers A drilled rossing under the estuary Conneting 20,000 homes and businesses This will end the pratie of disharging raw sewage into the harbour, with extensive health and environmental benefits. Water quality will improve and the amenity value of the harbour area will rise. The Sheme will also support the soial and eonomi development of the area while ensuring environmental ompliane. Progress Sheme overview As part of its national ommitment to end the pratie of disharging untreated sewage to rivers and seas by 2021, Irish Water is investing 135 million in the Cork Lower Harbour Main Drainage Sheme. Upon ompletion, the Sheme will ensure that all wastewater from Passage West, Monkstown, Ringaskiddy, Crosshaven, Carrigaline, Glenbrook, Shanbally, Coolmore and 18 The Shanbally WWTP ommened operations in Deember Half of the untreated wastewater disharge (from more than 10,000 homes) is now treated safely. Work ontinues on laying new sewer pipelines aross the area, a new drilled rossing under the estuary and the onstrution of new pumping stations. The projet is sheduled for ompletion by 2020.

33 Private water supply and wastewater d d Private Group Water Shemes Private wells Domesti wastewater Private Group Water Shemes There are approximately 380 regulated private GWSs, supplying 3% of homes nationally. Approximately two-thirds of these GWSs are supplied from good quality groundwater soures requiring basi disinfetions (hlorination and UV). The remaining shemes are supplied by surfae water soures requiring substantially more treatment. There has been substantial investment in treatment failities on GWSs funded by the DHPLG through the Rural Water Programme sine it was established in However, there are still a number of GWSs that need upgrading works. These have been inluded in the Remedial Ation List for Group Water Shemes (RAL-GWS) whih was ompiled in There are 106 shemes on the RAL-GWS, approximately 28% of the regulated private GWs. These shemes are now being prioritised for upgrade projets under the Rural Water Programme. Issues to be resolved inlude additional treatment for THMs and upgrading disinfetion systems. The EPA drinking water quality report on private supplies from 2016 showed overall ompliane for E. oli for private GWS at 96.1%. While this rate has improved sine the establishment of the Rural Water Programme, 100% ompliane is required. This an be ahieved through further investment in simple disinfetion systems along with ensuring adequate management systems are put in plae. 2YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION 5YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION Water / Wastewater Carry out the identified upgrades on private GWS treatment failities listed on the RAL-GWS. Develop and implement Soure Protetion Plans for all GWS private supplies. While funding has been made available for upgrading GWS distribution networks sine the establishment of the Rural Water Programme, the majority of alloated funding has been foused on addressing water quality issues rather than distribution network issues. The investment in GWS networks to date has mostly inluded universal metering, bulk metering and some ritial mains replaement whih have resulted in assisting the setor to address UFW issues. However, many of the distribution networks were installed in the 1960s and 1970s, in some ases with limited resoures, and now require investment to ontinue to redue and maintain levels of UFW. Further ritial mains replaement and the use of tehnologies suh as remote telemetry on bulk meters will be required to ahieve further effiienies. Generally, the apaity of treatment plants to produe drinking water to the orret standards is not an issue for the GWS setor. In fat, many shemes have suessfully redued their levels of UFW whih has resulted in ample apaity being available at soure and through the treatment failities. 19

34 The State of Ireland 2018 The GWS setor is still heavily reliant on volunteers, espeially shemes with fewer than 100 houses (approximately 60% of regulated GWSs). Amalgamation (physial onnetion) and rationalisation (joint management entity) of smaller GWSs is essential to ensure the longterm sustainable management of GWSs. Rationalisation involves pooling GWS resoures enabling viable paid management to be put in plae, ensuring that GWSs inluding treatment plants are operated properly and water quality is maintained to a high standard. Physial amalgamations will result in the more effiient use of water soures and treatment failities. A programme of rationalisation and physial amalgamation of small and neighbouring GWSs is urrently being promoted by the National Federation of Group Water Shemes (NFGWS) to develop long-term and sustainable private supplies. During 2016, the NFGWS submitted a Rationalisation Strategy to the DHPLG and two pathfinder projets have now been ompleted. A review of the GWS setor to establish the potential for suh projets in ertain ounties has now ommened and should be ompleted nationally over the next 12 months with a fous on implementing the strategy over the oming years. These projets will require signifiant investment but will result in a more sustainable GWS setor with improved apaity to deliver a quality servie to their members while ahieving operational and finanial effiienies. 2&5YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION Within two years, omplete an extensive review of the GWS setor to devise a rationalisation and amalgamation programme to form more sustainable water supplies. Within five years, implement a rationalisation and amalgamation programme for the GWS setor fousing on small private supplies with less than 100 domesti onnetions. 20

35 Water / Wastewater Domesti water and wastewater systems The fous of this report is the ondition, apaity and performane of infrastruture networks, however, a sizeable proportion of the Irish population rely on domesti water and wastewater systems. 10% of households reeive their water supply from private wells, while more than one quarter of households use domesti wastewater treatment systems (DWWTSs), also known as septi tanks. It is important that these householders are aware of potential risks of ontamination to drinking water from private wells. This partiularly inludes ontamination due to the failure of an on-site DWWTS. Wells (inluding wellhead protetion) and DWWTSs must be onstruted aording to guidelines developed by the EPA, GSI and Institute of Geologists of Ireland. Under the Water Servie (Amendment) At 2012, all householders onneted to a DWWTS must ensure that their system does not pose a risk to human health or the environment, and, in partiular does not reate a risk to water, air or soil, or to plants and animals, reate a nuisane through noise or odours, or adversely affet the ountryside or plaes of speial interest. In 2016, almost half of the DWWTSs inspeted by loal authorities under the National Inspetion Plan failed. Of the sites inspeted with private wells, more than half failed. 53% of systems failed due to operational and maintenane issues, while 29% also failed due to a risk to human health or the environment. Issues affeting human health and water quality inluded unliensed disharges, leakages and surfae ponding. It is extremely important that these issues are addressed by the owner. 24% of DWWTSs failed the inspetion due to a lak of desludging. Consideration should be given to olletive desludging arrangements. A pilot sheme run by the National Federation of Group Water Shemes showed a high rate of voluntary uptake of olletive desludging where it was made available. The apaity of muniipal wastewater treatment plants should be reviewed to ensure that plants are apable of aepting sludge from DWWTSs. As outlined in the previous setion, there are WWTPs that are operating at or above apaity and annot aept domesti wastewater sludge at present. Additional and aessible sludge management apaity must therefore be reated as part of the National Wastewater Sludge Management Plan. 2YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION Launh a Sustainability Eduation Programme on the water yle, water quality and the value of water, targeting in partiular domesti water and wastewater systems. Inentivise a major expansion of desludging of domesti wastewater treatment systems and plan for the management of sludge generated. A grants sheme is in plae for upgrading DWWTSs, however, urrent uptake is low (approximately 5% of sites inspeted). This is likely a refletion of the restrition of eligibility to meanstested individuals who have failed an inspetion. This means that owners are not likely to arry out upgrades in advane of inspetions as they will not be eligible for grants. The sope of grants should be extended, initially to areas where DWWTS have been identified as ausing a risk to human health or the environment, suh as at risk areas identified under the WFD. 2&5 YEAR Within two years, review RECOMMENDED the operation of new and ACTION existing domesti water supplies and wastewater treatment. Within five years, implement the reommendations of the review with a view to transferring knowledge, ownership and aountability of lean water supplies and non-polluting wastewater treatment systems on the domesti user. 21

36 The State of Ireland 2018 Northern Ireland Water NI Water is a Government Owned Company, whih operates under ompany legislation. Domesti water harges are not in plae in Northern Ireland and NI Water is also designated as a Non- Departmental Publi Body due to the subsidy it reeives from the Department for Infrastruture. Water Resoures NI Water has put in plae a Water Resoure Management Plan to The Plan inludes the onstrution of additional trunk mains to allow water to be moved around the network; this has now been substantially ompleted. An updated Plan will be onsulted on shortly and overs supply resiliene in adverse operating onditions suh as prolonged drought and freeze thaw events. NI Water also maintains approximately 24 impounding reservoirs in aordane with the Reservoirs At. Many of these strutures are between 60 and 120 years old and, while in good ondition, the anillary works suh as sour pipework will need investment. Water supply NI Water operates 24 WTPs, supplying over 99% of the population. The quality of water going into supply remains high and is urrently exeeding the overall standards set by the Drinking Water Inspetorate. There are oasional breahes of quality parameters (suh as pestiide exeedanes) and apital investment is planned at two plants to address these issues in the short term. NI Water has a water mains rehabilitation programme and the funding for this programme is inluded in its Business Plans. The replaement programmes in the NI Water Business Plan periods between 2010 and 2015 (PC10 & PC13) were replaing approximately 1% of the network per annum. From 2015, this has dropped to 0.5% per annum although NI Water is not seeing a deterioration in network performane. NI Water has an ative leakage detetion programme and the eonomi level of leakage is being ahieved. Generally, apaity is not an issue with the water supply network. Wastewater NI Water operates over 1,030 WWTPs that serve around 83% of the population. Between 1994 and 2009, Northern Ireland benefitted from a period of signifiant apital investment foused on upgrading most of the larger WWTPs to omply with the UWWTD. A programme to improve smaller WWTPs ontinues. Whilst 98% of population equivalent (PE) is urrently served by WWTPs for whih the effluent treated ahieves the required standard, signifiant effort is required to deliver this level of performane, with one of the pressures being the need to inrease maintenane expenditure as these assets reah the end of their lives. Irish Water NI Water Multiple Water population served (000) 3,300 1, Area served (km 2 ) 69,825 14, WTPs Supply mains length (km) 58,000 26, Water treated (MLD) 1, Leakage (MLD) WWTPs 1,074 1, Sewer pipes length (km) 25,000 15, Wastewater treated (MLD) 1, Soure: Irish Water Business Plan

37 Water / Wastewater Whilst many parts of the sewerage networks that serve Northern Ireland are in good ondition, many parts are in poor and inadequate ondition, partiularly in older urban areas. In the urrent finanial year, more than 7% of NI Water s entire annual maintenane budget had to be alloated to unplanned maintenane to urgently address defets found in the sewerage infrastruture that serves entral Belfast. Poor ondition of parts of the network is leading to flooding and pollution inidents aused by blokages, ollapse, siltation and high infiltration. Also, a number of large wastewater pumping stations have reahed the end of their asset lives and should have already been replaed. Whilst many of Northern Ireland's WWTPs have adequate apaity to treat urrent loads and failitate further growth, NI Water is urrently unable to aept new onnetions to the sewerage networks that are onneted to 35 WWTW due to inadequate apaity within either the sewerage network or at the WWTP. Investment planning NI Water has set out a apital investment plan urrently overing the period 2015 to 2021 (PC15 Business Plan) and while it estimated apital investment needs of 2.8 billion ( 3.2 billion) for all identified water and wastewater needs, it ould not effetively invest that amount in a 6-year period. Realistially, NI Water ould invest 1.7 billion ( 1.9 billion) but was only funded to the level of 990 million ( 1.1 billion). The setions above highlight investment priorities for the PC21 Business Plan (2021 to 2027). For example, annual expenditure on base maintenane will have to signifiantly inrease to maintain stable servieability. However, funding for future apital projets is somewhat unertain. It has not been possible to seure a ommitment from the Assembly that NIW funding will be provided on a long term basis. Living With Water Programme In 2015, the Department for Infrastruture NI initiated the Living With Water Programme (LWWP) to prepare a Strategi Drainage Infrastruture Plan for Belfast and an Integrated Drainage Investment Planning Guide for Northern Ireland. LWWP aims to effiiently provide essential drainage and wastewater servies to ustomers, to take are of the wastewater so that it doesn t pollute the environment, to provide exellent servie, and adapt to deal with the effets of limate hange. The LWWP will enable NI Water, working with other stakeholders, to develop the optimum Belfast wastewater investment apital investment plan to: redue the risk of flooding, omply with environmental legislation, provide inreased apaity in the sewerage network and at WWTPs, maintain essential assets and failitate inreased resiliene to limate hange. By working together, stakeholders are striving to develop the most ost effetive sustainable plan that Government may be able to afford to implement, and NI Water will be able to afford to operate. At this stage, it is estimated that the apital investment required by NI Water to deliver its elements of the integrated plan will be around 800m ( 913 million). The Integrated Drainage Investment Planning Guide for Northern Ireland will failitate appliation of the LWWP holisti athment-based approah and lessons learned to other urban athments in NI, benefiting other ustomers. From 2021, NI Water will, subjet to dediated funding under the LWWP, ommene implementation of the Strategi Drainage Infrastruture Plan for Belfast. This will inlude the upgrade of all six WWTPs that disharge into Inner Belfast Lough, with the main priority being the largest (Belfast WWTP). The implementation phase should be ompleted in

38

39 Flooding Flooding Flooding an endanger human lives and health and ause severe mental distress. It an destroy homes, ommunities and businesses. Beyond the human ost of flooding, severe damage an be aused to ritial soial and eonomi infrastruture. For example, damage aused to transport, eletriity, water or ommuniations networks an ut off aess to servies and ripple eonomies. In late 2017 and early 2018, Ireland faed a series of storms suh as Storm Ophelia and Storm Eleanor, resulting in flooding (see overleaf). Serious flooding events also took plae in 2009 and Flooding is a natural proess, aused by a variety of fators related to weather patterns, water bodies and landsape. However, human ativities an inrease flood risk, for example, through unsustainable urbanisation and deforestation. Flooding will never fully be removed from our lives, however, we an manage the risk posed to human life, property and ritial infrastruture. We an also improve our flood foreasting and warning apabilities. Engineers Ireland s vision Flood defenes and warning systems are in exellent ondition and maintained. All flooding risk is holistially managed for the protetion of publi health, ritial infrastruture, and the natural environment. However, the urrent state of flooding infrastruture, and flood risk management more broadly, is inadequate. It is based on reationary responses to flooding and a lak of ross-setoral governane. While there are long-term plans being put in plae, signifiant investment is required to ahieve soial, eonomi and environmental sustainability. We have therefore given this setor a grade C. Looking to the future, limate hange is projeted to have an inreasingly major impat on flooding in Ireland. Rising sea levels and growing storm frequeny are inreasing flooding risk at our oast and threatening our oastal towns and ities. Meanwhile, heavier and more unpreditable rainfall an lead to flash floods from rivers and from urban infrastruture. Also, heavier rainfall in rural areas, espeially in the west of Ireland, an lead to inreased groundwater flooding. Investment in settlement planning, infrastruture and natural flood management will be required to meet the hallenges of limate hange and ahieve Engineers Ireland s vision. Members of the expert advisory group onsidered the array of types and auses of flooding, inluding river, oastal, groundwater, rural and urban, as well as flood foreasting and warning; these areas are analysed at the end of this hapter. For the purposes of grading and developing reommendations, four riteria were defined: Vulnerability: The level of flooding risk posed to people, infrastruture, environment et. Governane: The alignment of management, legislation, finanial instruments et. Condition: The present standard and performane of infrastruture present Future proofing: The apaity to prepare for future events, partiularly relating to limate hange. Finally, partiular attention was paid to the reently developed and published Flood Risk Management Plans (Flood Plans), following the Cathment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) Programme. An overview of sustainable flood risk management and priority ations for the implementation of the Flood Plans are provided in the following pages. 25

40 The State of Ireland 2018 Storm Eleanor, Galway, January 2018 Galway homeowners and businesses were hit partiularly hard by flooding during Storm Eleanor in January 2018, with the ost of damage running into millions of euro. High tides, storm surge, torrential rain, swell waves on Galway Bay, high water levels on the Corrib and storm-fore winds ombined to ause devastation in the Doks and Claddagh areas of the ity, as well as along the promenade in Salthill. Flash flooding left roads impassable in Oranmore, Kinvara and Clarenbridge, while falling trees and debris on roads exaerbated the problem in Moyullen, Headford, Ballyglunin and Lakagh. The speed with whih flash floods enveloped areas of the ity, espeially at the Doks, aught people by surprise. The floodwaters quikly moved through the Spanish Arh, Quay Street, Merhant s Road and Dominik Street, preventing pedestrians from getting home. The usually busy exit route from the ity entre along Lough Atalia beame almost impassable beause of floods and traffi haos inreased as drivers tried to turn bak. Many buildings, inluding that of Galway Fire Brigade, suffered flooding despite efforts earlier in the day to take preventative measures. Several ars had to be abandoned in Oranmore after the high tide and wind ombined to flood the area. Many roads throughout the ounty beame impassable while main routes out of the ity to Oughterard, Headford, Tuam, Athenry and south Galway were treaherous with onsiderable surfae water. One homeowner told The Irish Times that his home had been destroyed for the third time in three years: It s destroyed again, ompletely destroyed. It was destroyed three years ago twie, this is equally as bad. It s way worse than [Storm] Ophelia. There was no warning. Meanwhile, a ar driver desribed the sense of pani during the peak of the floodwater surge: People were just trying to get to safety. There was a real fear if a ar stalled or had to stop that you d be stranded, and it all seemed to happen so quikly. 26

41 Flooding Sustainable planning and flood risk management While flooding is a natural proess, it is important to reognise the role of human ativity in shaping the auses and impats of flooding. For example, the way in whih land is managed (suh as agriulture or other ultivation) impats drainage and ontributes to flooding. Furthermore, a return to eonomi growth has spurred on development, partiularly in greenfield sites, as onstrution of impermeable surfaes has inreased runoff rates and the diret risk of flooding. In the past, housing onstrution has also taken plae in flood plains. Sustainable planning is ritial to flood risk management. Aording to The Planning System and Flood Risk Management: Guidelines for Planning Authorities, the ore objetives of flood risk management inlude: Avoiding inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding; Avoiding new developments inreasing flood risk elsewhere, inluding that whih may arise from surfae runoff; Ensuring effetive management of residual risks for development permitted in floodplains; Avoiding unneessary restrition of national regional or loal eonomi and soial growth; Improve the understanding of flood risk among relevant stakeholders, and; Ensure that the requirements of EU and national law in relation to the natural environment and nature onservation are omplied with at all stages of flood risk management. 2YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION Prevent esalation of assets at risk from flooding, inluding oastal, espeially through the implementation of the National Planning Framework, Regional Spatial & Eonomi Strategies and loal authority development plans, in aordane with flood risk management planning guidelines. Speifi poliies and measures must be put in plae to ahieve these objetives at the loal, regional and national sales. This inludes the reently-published NPF, forthoming Regional Spatial & Eonomi Strategies (RSESs) and loal authority development plans whih will follow. Flood Plans, outlined on the next page, must also be onsidered in the spatial planning proess. Flood risk management in Ireland to date The Offie of Publi Works (OPW) is the lead State body for the oordination and implementation of Government poliy on flood risk management and, sine 1995, has invested 350 million and delivered 42 major flood relief shemes. Combined with minor works ompleted by loal authorities, these shemes are proteting at least 9,500 properties and providing approximately 1.9 billion in eonomi benefit to the State through damage and losses avoided. Reently ompleted shemes inlude Mallow, Fermoy, Clonmel, Bray, Waterford, Kilkenny and Foynes. It is important that suessful flood risk management projets, both strutural and nonstrutural, onstruted to date are showased. This should help poliy-makers and the wider publi to understand flood risk and the importane of flood risk management, in all its forms, and the need to invest in new shemes and the maintenane of existing shemes. At the end of 2017, eight flood relief shemes were under onstrution and a further 25 were at design/development. These shemes will protet approximately 12,000 properties. Some of the major flood relief shemes inluded in this programme of works are: Lower Lee (Cork City), Skibbereen, Ennisorthy, Bandon, Clonakilty, Claregalway and Athlone. Showase the funtioning of ompleted flood risk projets and launh a publi engagement ampaign on flooding auses and the full array of hard and soft risk management options, inluding nature-based water retention options and managed retreat. 27

42 The State of Ireland 2018 CFRAM Programme The EU Floods Diretive reognises the importane of land use management and spatial planning as a key tool in flood risk management. It requires Member States to undertake a national Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment, prepare flood hazard and risk maps where potential signifiant flood risk exists, and to prepare athment-based Flood Risk Management Plans that set out flood risk management objetives, ations and measures. The Cathment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) programme was put in plae to deliver on the National Flood Poliy (2004) and the Floods Diretive. Firstly, the OPW identified 300 Areas for Further Assessment (AFAs), whih may be at signifiant risk of flooding (90 of these areas are loated along the oast). The largest ever flood risk researh study, inluding extensive engineering modelling and analysis, was then undertaken to assess the extent of the flood risk in eah area. Publi engagement represented a key omponent of the projet, inluding formal onsultation periods, and the programme was onduted in ollaboration with ross-border authorities. The CFRAM programme produed 40,000 Flood Maps to assess and illustrate flood risk for the 300 AFAs. The Maps illustrate extent, depth, flow, veloity of flood waters as well as likelihoods of ourrene. In all, 34,500 properties were assessed as faing a 1% hane of flooding. The next page shows two Flood Maps for the King s Island area of Limerik City. Based on the Flood Maps, Flood Risk Management Plans (Flood Plans) were prepared. Beyond the Flood Plans, the Flood Maps provide useful evidene for sustainable planning poliies, measures and deisions. Flood Plans In May 2018, 29 Flood Plans, overing the entire ountry (seven River Basin Distrits) were published by the OPW. The tehnial assessments underpinning the Maps and Plans inluded: aerial surveys, topographial surveys, hydrologial analysis, hydrauli modelling, flood mapping, risk assessments, and the assessment and appraisal of possible flood risk management measures. This proess yielded feasible strutural flood protetion measures and nonstrutural flood risk prevention and preparedness measures. The Plans over the period The stated overall objetives of the Plans are: To manage and redue the potential onsequenes of flooding, reognising other benefits and effets aross a broad range of setors inluding human health, the environment, ultural heritage and eonomi ativity, through viable flood protetion shemes and other measures informed by a sound understanding of the flood risk established through the preparation of flood maps. The main finding of the Flood Plans is that 95% of properties at risk of flooding in the 300 AFAs an be feasibly proteted. This will require the delivery of 118 flood relief shemes and the maintenane of existing shemes. The Plans also provide useful appraisal information for the prioritisation of the shemes identified. The figures on the right show flood extent maps for the King s Island area of Limerik City, ompleted as part of the Shannon CFRAM study. The top map shows the likelihood of oastal flooding (shades of green), while the bottom map shows the likelihood of fluvial/river flooding (shades of blue). The area is suseptible to both river and tidal flooding and was badly flooded in Advaned works have been ompleted at Verdant Plae and the design of the main sheme is progressing. 28

43 Flooding 29

44 The State of Ireland 2018 Implementation of the Flood Plans The NDP ommits 940 million to the delivery of flood risk management measures over the next 10 years. Annual funding alloations to the OPW for this work are set to inrease from 70 million in 2018 to 100 million in On top of the 33 shemes inluded in the urrent works programme, a tranhe of 257 million was announed to deliver 50 high priority flood relief shemes. Of this, 14 million will be provided by the OPW to loal authorities to deliver 31 of the shemes, eah estimated to ost less than 1 million. The five new major shemes inluded are: Limerik City and environs: 56 million sheme to protet 890 properties Dundalk/Blakrok South: 40 million sheme to protet 1737 properties Tralee: 31 million sheme to protet 768 properties Carlingford & Greenore: 24 million sheme to protet 296 properties Drogheda: 17 million sheme to protet 240 properties The delivery of the 33 shemes in onstrution / design / development, along with the 50 new 2YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION Develop a strategi plan for the effiient delivery of shemes identified in the Flood Plans and smaller shemes, drawing on international best pratie and inluding the following key omponents: Multi-annual budgeting for the implementation of Flood Plans and a programme of proative maintenane of existing strutures and assoiated waterways; A multi-stakeholder taskfore to review the operation of legislation and poliy governing flood risk management; Standard methodologies for the translation of urrent knowledge on limate hange into design guidane for resilient infrastruture. shemes, will ensure approx. 27,500 of the 34,500 properties (80%) identified as having a 1% hane of flooding will be proteted. The graphi overleaf shows the shemes inluded and the proportion of properties proteted in the urrent and new work programmes. To ahieve the 95% protetion level onsidered feasible by CFRAM, shemes for a further 35 areas will be required. To ensure the effetive delivery of the Flood Plan shemes, it will be ritial to develop a strategi plan. Drawing on international best pratie, this plan should inlude: multi-annual budgeting, adequate provision for maintenane, review of legislation/poliy and stakeholder engagement see ations below. Furthermore, to ensure that resilient and multifuntional infrastruture is delivered, further design guidane should be researhed and developed inluding the translation of knowledge on limate hange into design. 5YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION At on the outomes of the proposed review of legislation and poliy governing flood risk management. Consider whether a dediated authority with statutory powers be established to manage flood risk, pollution and land management at a athment sale. Undertake researh and establish appropriate design standards for flooding infrastruture with multiple benefits, e.g. integrating with water quality and environment-supporting onditions. Roll out the strategi programme of Flood Plan projets in a phased and oordinated way that will enourage the organisations involved to upsale their apaity to onstrut and deliver these projets. Develop a national database of flood risk management failities to enable the protetion of ritial infrastruture, e.g. hospitals, power stations and wastewater treatment plants. 30

45 28% properties proteted 62% properties proteted Current work programme (33 shemes) Shemes at onstrution Athlone, Co. Westmeath Bandon, Co. Cork Clonakilty, Co. Cork Claregalway, Co. Galway River Dodder (Fluvial), Dublin Dunkellin River, Co. Galway Ennis Lower, Co. Clare Skibbereen, Co. Cork Templemore, Co. Tipperary Shemes at design/development Arklow, Co. Wiklow Ballymakeera, Co. Cork Bellurgan, Co. Louth Blakpool, Co. Cork Cama River, Dublin Carrigaline, Co. Cork Clontarf, Dublin Crossmolina, Co. Mayo Douglas /Togher, Co. Cork Ennis South, Co. Clare Ennisorthy, Co. Wexford Glanmire/Glashaboy, Co. Cork Gort Lowlands, Co. Galway King's Island, Limerik Lower Lee (Cork City) Lower Morrell, Co. Kildare Maroom, Co. Cork Midleton, Co. Cork Poddle River, Dublin Portmarnok, (Strand Rd.) Raphoe, Co. Donegal Sandymount, Dublin Skerries, Co. Dublin Whitehurh Stream, Dublin Flooding Of the 34,500 properties identified by CFRAM as having a 1% hane of flooding, 9,500 have been proteted to date through the delivery of 42 major flood relief shemes. 80% properties proteted New work programme (50 shemes) Shemes (over 15 million) Tralee, Co. Kerry Limerik City & Environs Carlingford & Greenore, Co. Louth Dundalk/Blakrok South, Co. Louth Drogheda, Co. Louth & Meath Shemes ( 1-15 million) Cavan Kilkee, Co. Clare Springfield, Co. Clare Bantry, Co. Cork Lifford, Co. Donegal Loughlinstown, Co. Dublin Ballinasloe, Co. Galway Galway City Kenmare, Co. Kerry Naas, Co. Kildare Mountmellik, Co. Laois Portarlington, Co. Laois Ballina & Environs, Co. Mayo Wexford Shemes (below 1 million) Carlow Bunratty, Co. Clare Killaloe, Co. Clare Kilrush, Co. Clare Carrowkeel, Co. Donegal Downies, Co. Donegal Glenties, Co. Donegal Clifden, Co. Galway Abbeydorney, Co. Kerry Banna, Co. Kerry Leixlip, Co. Kildare Ballyhale, Co. Kilkenny Clonaslee, Co. Laois Leitrim Mohill, Co. Leitrim Athea, Co. Limerik Castleonnell, Co. Limerik Rathkeale, Co. Limerik Longford Ardee, Co. Louth Westport, Co. Mayo Mornington, Co. Meath Rahan, Co. Offaly Sligo Town (Rathbraghan) Golden, Co. Tipperary Holyross, Co. Tipperary Knoklofty, Co. Tipperary Nenagh, Co. Tipperary Aglish, Co. Waterford Ballyduff, Co. Waterford Avoa, Co. Wiklow 95% properties proteted Upon ompletion of the remaining 35 shemes identified in the Flood Plans, approximately 33,000 properties identified as having a 1% hane of flooding will be proteted. 31

46 The State of Ireland 2018 River River or fluvial flooding is aused by rivers and streams breaking their banks and flooding the surrounding low-lying land suh as flood plains. While fluvial flooding is generally a result of heavy rainfall, the river s apaity an be redued making flooding more likely due to siltation and blokages as well as high tides in estuaries. Heavier and more unpreditable rainfall related to limate hange an inrease fluvial flooding risk. The CFRAM programme, as outlined in previous setions, onsidered fluvial flooding in great detail. The OPW and loal authorities have ompleted several river flooding shemes, suh as in Waterford, Carlow, Dublin (Tolka) and Kilkenny. However, aording to CFRAM, just 18% of towns at signifiant risk of river flooding are urrently proteted. A number of shemes are at onstrution stage, e.g. Skibbereen and Clonakilty, while others are at design / development, e.g. Crossmolina and Ennisorthy. These and the other shemes identified in the Flood Plans must be delivered. Delivery of flood relief shemes is hallenging given the number of stakeholders involved, the planning/environmental onstraints, publi prourement and onstrution management framework, and the related ontratual models that must be adopted by the OPW. The apital budget approved by Government is welome, but aessing these funds in a timely manner given the above items an pose a hallenge. Future proofing Flood relief shemes are built to last for years, but require maintenane and in some ases further work to future proof for limate hange. For example, the design standard provided by histori flood alleviation shemes merits onsideration as many may not be providing the 1% Annual Exeedane Probability (AEP) design protetion with urrent allowanes for freeboard and limate hange adaptation. Shemes designed in reent years are required to onsider limate hange and future requirements, generally managed through designing for future adaptation. Greater oordination in relation to holisti athment management planning poliy and ontrols is required to ensure that upstream athment ativities do not inrease flood risk or redue the ability to manage any inreased risk from future flood events (espeially in the ontext of limate hange). Dams There are between 15 and 20 large dams and approximately 50 smaller dams loated throughout Ireland. Most of the large dams are more than 50 years old and some are more than 100 years old. While most (if not all) of the large dams are maintained to a very high standard, failure for any reason ould be atastrophi for people, infrastruture and the environment. In most ases, they have been reassessed to take aount of limate hange impats and tehnologial advanes. Future deommissioning of these dams without replaement would have a signifiant impat on flooding and water supply. There is urrently no dam safety legislation in Ireland. Most (if not all) large dams are maintained and operated as if under similar legislation as in Great Britain. However, there is no omplete register of smaller dams and hene their ondition, and the flood risk resulting from them, is unknown. 2YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION 5YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION Compile a register of all signifiant dams in Ireland. Develop and implement a system of assessment for multi-funtional dams in Ireland. 32

47 Flooding Coastal d Coastal flooding is aused by seawater ingress from high tides, storm surges, wave overtopping and erosion. The problem is exaerbated by sea level rise. Seawater an overtop or breah natural and engineered barriers resulting in flows into normally dry areas. This setion fouses on oastal flooding in rural areas. As a signifiant proportion of our population lives in oastal areas, oastal flooding poses partiular hallenges for planning and engineering. In some rural areas where oastal flooding is problemati (for example in Clare and Kerry), it impats on isolated ommunities and beomes a signifiant issue for the sustainability of those ommunities. Coastal flooding risk assessment was generally arried out on loal failure or emergeny basis. CFRAM has now onsidered oastal flooding risk to 90 oastal ommunities in some detail. As outlined previously, these shemes must be delivered. For example, many existing tidal flood defene strutures are old and signifiant works are required to bring the risk of tidal inundation to an aeptable level. If oastal flooding to these 90 ommunities is managed, then the overall sale of national oastal flooding risk and erosion is muh lower given the length of oastline involved. However, there is a need to examine whih eonomi, soial and environmental assets are at risk elsewhere from oastal flooding and erosion so that appropriate solutions may be identified that are feasible and sustainable. For example, many elements of transport infrastruture (suh as the DART and other rail lines) are vulnerable to wave overtopping. Other elements of ritial infrastruture, suh as water supply and wastewater treatment plants, are frequently found in low-lying areas. Risk assessments must therefore involve utility providers and a wide array of other stakeholders. Governane The prinipal legislation in this area is urrently the Coast Protetion At 1963, whih assigns the lead role to loal authorities with tehnial and finanial support to be provided by the OPW. It is questionable whether, after this length of time, the At is fit for purpose, partiularly in the light of the antiipated inreased risk from sea level rise and inreased storm frequeny assoiated with limate hange. The needs of tourism, ommunity resiliene, infrastruture/roads, agriulture and flood risk need to be onsidered holistially - separate funding provision an lead to a disjointed response. Furthermore, given the omplexity of oastal proesses and eologial sensitivity of these areas, it is onerning that a national Integrated Coastal Management Plan is not in plae. 5YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION Progress the national Integrated Coastal Management Plan and pilot environmentally sustainable and eonomially feasible projets suh as sand engines and sand dune generation to break up wave ations. Expanded monitoring and researh on sea level rise, inreased storm frequeny and wave ation and erosion is required to better understand the impats and impliations of limate hange on oastal flooding risk (see Flood Foreasting & Warning). Nevertheless, despite urrent observations of signifiant sea level rise in some parts of the ountry, deisions on flood defenes have often been deferred for politial reasons. For example, wave walls are not always publily popular. Publi engagement and some stark deisions will be needed on the full array of hard and soft risk management options, inluding nature-based water retention options and managed retreat. 33

48 The State of Ireland 2018 Urban Pluvial flooding is aused by the failure of the urban storm water / drainage network and the ground to absorb rainfall. Runoff from high intensity rainfall flows aross impermeable surfaes and, if the apaity of the drainage network or water body is exeeded, the exess water then ponds in low-lying areas, suh as ertain streets and buildings in urban areas. Urban areas that are prone to other types of flooding, suh as oastal and river, an be highly vulnerable to pluvial flooding. While the impat of this type of flooding is generally less severe than fluvial or oastal flooding, there are many histori inidents of severe surfae water flooding. Furthermore, as this flooding ours in urban entres, it impats on large numbers of the general publi, ausing soietal impat, damage to property and ritial infrastruture (e.g. roads, water servies, railway lines, hospitals, power supply). Managed development at a river basin sale, with appropriate runoff ompensation measures, suh as stormwater management and Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS), an prevent an inrease in flood damage and redue the future need for flood relief shemes. Drainage infrastruture Piped underground drainage infrastruture onsists primarily of storm water drainage infrastruture and foul/ombined sewer drainage infrastruture (the latter, whih is the responsibility of Irish Water, is disussed in the previous hapter). There has never been a strutured approah to asset renewal or apital maintenane in storm drainage infrastruture. In 2004, analysis of the storm water systems under the Greater Dublin Strategi Drainage Strategy estimated there was signifiant apital investment in storm drainage infrastruture required to manage flood risk to aeptable standards. Today, those estimates are onsidered as representing the lower bound of apital investment needed onsidering the omplexities and onstraints assoiated with upgrading long linear infrastruture within the urban environment. Future-proofing To future-proof urban drainage infrastruture, a 10% interim inrease in rainfall intensities is applied to allow for limate hange impats. However, several loal authorities are working towards 20% uplift on rainfall intensities, while urrent pratie in the UK is to apply a 30% fator on intensities when designing to the 2085 horizon. Another fator to onsider in future-proofing is urban reep - the loss of permeable surfaes within urban areas. The urban landsape is onstantly hanging, suh as the extension of properties, the building of onservatories and the paving of driveways. If these additional areas drain to the drainage infrastruture through gullies and roof gutters, the extra volume of rainwater an overload the network. While urban reep is not urrently onsidered in Ireland, in the UK a fator of 1.1 is applied to the impermeable area to provide for urban reep. Fators suh as limate hange and urban reep redue the initial design apaity of the drainage infrastruture whih ontributes towards and an exaerbate the extent and frequeny of flooding. In Ireland, no uniform approah has been applied to design whih provides for limate hange impats on the urban drainage infrastruture. As stated for the implementation of the Flood Plans, standard methodologies should be put in plae to translate urrent knowledge on limate hange into design guidane for resilient infrastruture. 34

49 Flooding Surfae water management planning Multiple flooding soures an and do ontribute to pluvial flooding inidents. In these senarios, all of the primary ontributory auses need to be managed together in a oordinated manner suh that a level of aeptable flood risk an be ahieved. There is no overarhing national poliy framework in plae whih sets out proedures and proesses for managing the flood risk assoiated with surfae water flooding. A framework is required to allow various stakeholders to work together to develop the most suitable solutions to surfae water flooding as part of a Surfae Water Management Plan. The Plan should set out these solutions as part of a long-term strategy to manage surfae water and would provide guidane for land-use planning, emergeny planning, drainage maintenane et. as well as publi engagement. Aording to the UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, the following benefits an be ahieved through a Surfae Water Management Plan: Inreased understanding of the auses, probability and onsequenes of surfae water flooding; Inreased understanding of where surfae water flooding will our whih an be used to inform spatial and emergeny planning funtions; A o-ordinated ation plan, agreed by all partners and supported by an understanding of the osts and benefits, whih partners will use to work together to identify measures to mitigate surfae water flooding; Identifying opportunities where SuDS an play a more signifiant role in managing surfae water flood risk and may also ontribute to fulfilling the requirements of the WFD; Improved publi awareness of the duties and responsibilities for managing flood risk of different partners and stakeholders. 2YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION Provide national guidane and put in plae an overarhing framework whih allows different organisations to work together and to develop the most suitable solutions to surfae water flooding problems under a oordinated plan (Surfae Water Management Plan). 35

50 The State of Ireland 2018 Rural Many of the fators affeting rural flooding risk have been disussed in the setions on river and oastal flooding. Historially, rural drainage was a major onern, but was superseded by a fous on proteting larger towns/ities from flooding. Before the WFD, the effets of various land use hanges on soial and eonomi benefits and osts inluding flooding and environmental degradation were not seriously onsidered, and the optimal approah to future management requires signifiant further work. Some dispersed houses and aess routes are vulnerable to flooding, although the vast majority is not. Land use is, in general, well adapted to flood risk. There are some areas where there are signifiant numbers of houses in embanked areas near the sea and rivers originally developed for agriulture these areas need to be addressed. Arterial drainage works from the 19th and 20th enturies provide a good standard of protetion against rural flooding in areas with low-gradient rivers. These need to be maintained on a regular basis; the resoures applied to this vary from fair (in a minority of areas) to exellent. The ondition of embanked areas often does not reflet the level of risk. Hard flood defenes will not be feasible in many instanes. Softer initiatives should be onsidered in some loations, inorporating SuDS features / green infrastruture and initiatives to inentivise landowners to preserve / rehabilitate floodplains (suh as in the UK). There remains a lak of onsistent poliy throughout river athments, with multiple organisations holding responsibility for flood risk management and water quality aspets. In general, there is a lak of ommunity engagement, however, now that the WFD implementation plans are being developed, this is starting to hange. Furthermore, while statutory planning guidelines are in plae to avoid future risk from development, flood risk is not systematially taken into aount in ertain poliy areas, e.g agriultural / agri-environmental poliy. As disussed in the ontext of the Flood Plans, the legislation underpinning flood risk needs to be reviewed and updated. In line with the Priniple of Legal Certainty, environmental law, poliy and appliation need to be lear and preditable. A sequential approah to future proofing, based on the risk hierarhy, would appear to be appropriate. Planning and poliy on the development of bridges and similar strutures is well developed, but rely on limate senarios whih should be regularly updated. 5YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION Consider wider flood risk, e.g. rural flooding and oordinated athment-based opportunities for flood risk management as part of future yles of the EU Floods Diretive. 36

51 Flooding Groundwater Groundwater flooding is aused by the exeedane of the apaity of underground reservoirs, water stored in the ground, as a result of extended periods of rainfall. Groundwater flooding is impated by loal geology, as well as infiltration routes, and is more prevalent in the west of Ireland where there are signifiant karst limestone landsapes. Groundwater flooding mainly ours in rural areas and so the primary reeptors are residential housing, road infrastruture and agriultural land and buildings. Flood reeptors tend to be widely dispersed and so densities are low. However, when karst groundwater flooding ours it typially happens aross a large region and so umulatively the level of risk an be signifiant. Groundwater flooding rarely poses a diret risk to life, however, the relatively long duration typial of groundwater flooding an ause eonomi and soial disruption that is distint from other forms of flooding. It an also have lasting environmental impats due to the flooding of wastewater systems, slurry storage et. Groundwater flood management Due to its loalised nature, groundwater flood management is typially arried out in an ad-ho manner by loal authorities. This approah an be effetive; however, it does result in an inonsistent approah. In terms of funding, groundwater flooding is at a disadvantage due to its rural setting and relatively long duration. While the flooding of agriultural land or loal roads an reasonably be overlooked in a shortlived flood senario, groundwater flooding an persist for durations of weeks or months. While this extended flooding auses disproportionate impats on affeted ommunities, it tends to not be refleted in urrent ost/benefit methods. As a result, flood mitigation measures are often limited to small-sale infrastruture suh as road raising or personal property protetion. Improving our understanding As groundwater flooding has not traditionally been reognised as posing a signifiant risk, it remains relatively less well understood than other flood forms. Reent groundwater flood events have highlighted inadequaies in tehnial knowledge and information neessary for effetive groundwater flood risk assessment and management. Further information on the fundamental proesses and mehanisms influening groundwater flooding in Ireland is required. With a few individual exeptions, there has been no systemati monitoring of groundwater flood data in both rural and urban settings in Ireland. This severely limits the development of appropriate flood risk assessment tools omparable to other flood forms. Large-sale flood infrastruture is typially not seen as viable for groundwater flood management. Instead, infrastruture tends to inlude loal drainage shemes, road raising, and personal property protetion. The effiay of strutural and non-strutural options for managing flood risk an be diffiult to assess due to unertainty in the proesses ontrolling groundwater flooding. An amplifiation of the seasonal hydrologial yle due to limate hange, with inreased winter rainfall in the west of the ountry, is predited for Ireland in the oming deades. This senario ould inrease groundwater flood duration and frequeny, given the ritial reharge durations typially range from weeks to months. However, there is a signifiant unertainty surrounding apaity to perform for future events. 2YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION Compile an inventory of groundwater flood events and establish a framework for desribing groundwater flooding extent, severity and frequeny and alulating assoiated return periods. 37

52 The State of Ireland 2018 Foreasting and warning d In the short/medium term, the absene of a national sale robust flood foreasting and warning system, that has suffiient loal sale resolution, is a signifiant gap in Ireland s ability to manage flood risk to people and infrastruture. Suffiient warning enables the assembly of temporary flood defenes and household flood gates et.; indeed, house flood insurane an depend on flood warning systems. In January 2016, the Government announed that a National Flood Foreasting and Warning Servie would be established. The Servie will onsist of a new operational unit within Met Éireann with guidane for standards and performane overseen by the OPW. The Servie will foreast river and oastal flooding and issue alerts at national and larger athment sale when it beomes operational. Met Éireann and the OPW are nearly two years into a five year plan to establish the Servie. Current servie Currently, there are a number of oastal and athment flood foreasting systems around the ountry. A tide and storm surge foreasting system for the oast of Ireland is urrently operational. There is a tide, storm surge and wave foreasting system in plae for Dublin Bay and systems in preparation for Dundalk Bay, Tralee Bay and adjaent bays. On the fluvial side, Ireland is overed by the European Flood Awareness System whih overs athments of 2,000 km 2 and larger. Dublin City Counil has a large rain and river gauge network with warnings above thresholds ed to emergeny staff. The OPW has developed operational flood foreasting systems for the Munster Blakwater (fousing on Mallow and Fermoy) and the Suir (fousing on Clonmel). There is an early warning system for the Lower Lee also at an advaned stage of development. Currently, oastal and fluvial foreasting apability is reasonable, but a signifiant improvement in the spatial overage of athments and bays and foreast auray is required along with regular performane reviews / upgrades and an integrated foreasting approah. Greater overage and improved warning A national and omprehensive athment flood foreasting system needs to be developed to provide greater overage for all of Ireland. The Servie should work with the results of the CFRAM programme to target areas that have been highlighted to be partiularly vulnerable to inreased flooding due to land-use praties, future development and limate hange. To enable the expansion of foreasting and warning apabilities, measuring and monitoring failities must be maintained and improved. The data gleaned from these failities will help to redue the unertainties in quantifying flood risks and help to understand the effets of limate hange. This will also assist the design of more resilient flooding infrastruture. 2YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION Expedite the development of flood foreasting apability for larger athments and more populated bays around Ireland. Pilot linkages of foreasts and warnings. Maintain and extend the network of permanent measurement failities (e.g. automati rain gauges, rainfall radar, water level monitoring, satellite / remote measurement and ontinuous GPS). 5YEAR RECOMMENDED ACTION Continue the development of the National Flood Foreasting and Warning Servie and improve loal warning systems to assist emergeny response. Enhane permanent measurement and monitoring failities as well as omprehensive data systems and analysis to redue unertainties in quantifying flood risks. 38

53

54 The State of Ireland 2018 Energy Ireland s energy demands need to meet the objetives of the energy trilemma by being environmentally sound, eonomially viable and from indigenous soures Reommended Short-term Ations Update Implement the National Mitigation Plan (NMP) as a step towards ahieving a low arbon, arbon resilient and sustainable eonomy. Ireland s first statutory NMP was published in July 2017 and represents a signifiant first step to ahieving deep dearbonisation by 2050 as well as measures to address the immediate hallenge to Progress the North South Interonnetor to further bolster seurity of supply and redue ost to the onsumer, as well as exploring other interonnetion options with a view to developing them if and when appropriate. Following planning permission approval of the southern setion of the Interonnetor in Deember 2016, the northern setion has just reently reeived full planning permission for the projet. Work is expeted to ommene on the projet this year and will take up to three years to omplete. The Government should lead by example, with ministers enouraged to replae their existing fossil fuel-powered ars with hybrids or eletri vehiles. No signifiant hanges to Government vehile usage have been announed. Review and revise energy poliy every three to five years and inform the proess with reports on progress made, gaps to target and new tehnologial developments. As part of the NMP, an Annual Transition Statement will inlude an overview of the mitigation poliy measures adopted to redue emissions and an assessment of the effetiveness of setoral mitigation measures. Continue to diversify Ireland s eletriity fuel generation mix and expand the renewables base. The Renewable Eletriity Support Sheme (RESS) and the Support Sheme for Renewable Heat will inentivise the adaptation of renewables and enourage fuel swithing from standard fossil fuel soures. The RESS will inentivise the adaptation of biogas prodution for thermal and eletrial generation purposes. 40

55 Energy The NDP and NPF have both inluded signifiant referenes to ross-departmental adaptation of low-arbon poliy measures. The National Mitigation Plan, Renewable Eletriity Support Sheme and Support Sheme for Renewable Heat have provided meaningful indiations to the market that the Department for Communiations, Climate Ation and Environment is willing to provide funding to enable the transition to a low arbon eonomy and help mitigate our penalties for underperforming against our 2020 renewables targets. However, the ESB s Ireland s low arbon future: Dimensions of a solution demonstrates the very hallenging transition to d b Energy effiieny Eletriity (RES-E) Heating/ooling (RES-H) Transport (RES-T) The launh of the Integrated Single Eletriity Market (isem), planned for May 2018, in ollaboration with Eirgrid s DS3 programme s goal of managing inreased levels of renewable eletriity supply from 50% (urrently apable of 60%) to 75% will greatly support the transition to renewables. If built, the Celti Interonnetor will enable the import and export of 700 MW of eletriity between Ireland and Frane and improve seurity of eletriity supply for the state. Works are ongoing to study the optimal design and loation for the projet. The SEAI are driving signifiant retrofit works aross the domesti setor with grants being made available for internal and external retrofit measures, as well as the installation of heat pump systems. From April 2018, grants of ira 3,500 will be made available by the SEAI for the installation of heat pump systems in homes. The Government has announed plans to prohibit the sale of new non-zero emission vehiles post 2030 and the NDP seeks to transition the ar transport fleet to eletriity and provide additional harging infrastruture. 41

56 The State of Ireland 2018 Transport Developing a transport infrastruture that meets the requirements of Irish soiety and the Irish eonomy is essential to the future prosperity of the State. Critial to this is an integrated approah to road, rail, air and sea transport Reommended Short-term Ations Update Inrease the alloation of apital investment in transport infrastruture to ensure that there are adequate funds for both the maintenane of existing assets and new build projets. Inentivise onsumers and private ar operators to purhase eletri vehiles (EVs). Introdue more superfast hargers for eletri vehiles on inter urban routes. Reuse, reyle and repurpose existing transport assets, suh as onverting existing roads into speifi bus, yle and ar sharing lanes. Aelerate the development of New Metro North from its urrent delivery date. Develop bus priority routes, ore bus orridors and bus rapid transit routes for high frequeny bus transfers. The NDP provides for several new major transport projets (see below and next page), yet makes little referene to maintenane. It is ritial to ontinue to invest in maintenane; assets whih deteriorate beyond a ertain level require signifiant additional funding to re-energise. As we move towards inreased urbanisation, the need to maintain these assets will beome more evident and inreased alloations will be required to support eonomi growth. Signifiant work has been undertaken by DTTAS, partiularly in urban areas with respet to air quality and the effet on human life, dieselbased partiulates being the worst offenders. EU poliy, supported by EU legislation, is to phase out the use of diesel vehiles in urban areas beginning in Ireland will likely follow shortly afterwards but legislative enatment will be required. Anillary to this is the requirement to ontinue to invest in supporting infrastruture suh as quik harging failities, inreased parking provisions and tax inentives to enourage the purhase of EVs. The NTA is ontinuing to lead the harge in behavioural hange and the repurposing of existing infrastruture to suit a variety of modes but requires ontinued investment and publi support for suh initiatives. The fous should be on throughput of persons rather than the traditional approah of the throughput of vehiles. Further funding is required to repurpose the spae to aommodate additional and more frequent publi transport servies, safer yling failities and other sustainable transport modes in support of this approah. Metro Link was announed in the NDP whih will see Swords linked with Ranelagh via Dublin Airport. The Luas green line will be upgraded to metro standard. Consultants have been appointed by the NTA to reexamine route options and to prepare doumentation to bring the sheme forward to planning. Continued investment and politial support is required to deliver this long-term transport goal whih will support the expansion of the Airport and the wider north Dublin area. Continued investment is required to support this poliy. The 2 billion Busonnets projet will improve journey times and servie frequeny through network redesign, next generation bus infrastruture and fleet management. The Core Bus Corridors were announed in June

57 Transport Over the past year, funding has been alloated for Metro Link (Metro North inluding the link to Ranalegh and upgrading the Luas green line to metro standard), the DART Expansion Programme and Busonnets for Dublin, Cork and Galway (whih will see the re-organisation of bus servies and fleet). Additional funding has been announed for the delivery of the Greater Dublin Area Cyle Network Plan, inluding pedestrian failities, and the development of new urban entres in Athlone and Sligo. Waterford and Limerik will see investment through improved ross-ity bus servies and new river rossings oupled with other infrastrutural improvements. b b Airports Ports Rail Road Sustainable and urban The NDP also inluded signifiant investment in the inter-urban road network inluding the M20 Cork to Limerik motorway, N4, N5, N25/M8 Dunkettle Interhange, N22 and N28 as reommended in The State of Ireland Congestion on the M50 ontinues to build, however, variable speed limits and multi-point tolling have yet to be introdued. Runway North has ommened at Dublin Airport, however its operation is limited by night time and early morning restritions. This onstraint will limit the potential for Dublin Airport to aommodate the projeted 50 million passengers by Plans are afoot to inrease the arrying apaity at Dublin Port both in terms of ommerial and tourism opportunities. These plans will see signifiant investment (in-exess of 1 billion) targeted at infrastrutural improvements surrounding the Alexander Basin Development. These expansion plans will plae a greater emphasis on the surrounding road infrastruture in partiular the South Port Aess Road whih is required to enable this expansion. Steady-state investment is the amount of investment required to allow urrent infrastruture to operate at existing levels. Investment is required to rebalane years of under-investment in maintenane programmes and to ensure ontinued eonomi growth. 43

58 The State of Ireland 2018 Communiations Ireland s ommuniations network is responsible for saving lives, supporting business as well as providing itizens with aess to entertainment and soial media. Our voie and data networks are ritial to our smarter living modes Reommended Short-term Ations Update New building developments should inlude provision for infrastruture to support broadband rollout, for example, internal wiring in buildings, homes and industrial parks. Award the ontrat for the National Broadband Plan (NBP) without delay and with expedited timelines for delivery. Support the development and deployment of appliations for the Internet of Farm to insure the prosperity of the rural agri setor. Clarify the seurity impliations for the sovereignty of data within the EU domain, post-brexit. Continue to develop the apaity of the National Cyber Seurity Centre (NCSC) and further engage with national and international stakeholders around proatively seuring systems and responding to inidents. Continue to redue servie osts when rates and speeds are not equal in rural / urban areas. For new planning appliations, Loal Authorities have now adopted a working pratie of requiring aess duts for teleoms infrastruture to be provided by the developer. This pratie has foused on providing dut aess from the publi roadway to the new premises. The NBP prourement proess is planned to onlude in There is now only one bidder onsortium left in the prourement proess, enet-sse. The Government has stated that they expet to announe the preferred bidder in the latter half of 2018, with the ontrat award and rollout to begin as quikly as possible after this. There is a growing eo system for farm-based appliations and digital servies. A host of ompanies, state bodies and agenies and representative organisations are foused on supporting the development of digital servies for the agri setor as evidened at the 2017 National Ploughing Championships in Sreggan, Tullamore, Co Offaly. Ireland has mobilised a wide ranging negotiation team to takle all Brexit related issues. As time passes and the 2019 exit date gets loser, it is still unlear how aligned the regulatory regime will evolve in the UK Post Brexit. Ireland needs to agree a strategy to manage data post-brexit. This will be partiularly hallenging with ross border networks suh as Northern Ireland. During 2017, the NCSC foused on developing apaity and engaging with national and international stakeholders around seuring systems and responding to inidents. Signifiant progress has been made over the past 12 months in its resouring and development of yber systems and speialist failities. The NCSC has worked to ollate and analyse data from yber-attaks and to oordinate with those targeted to introdue mitigation measures. The Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskfore has been established to identify immediate solutions to broadband/mobile phone overage defiits and to investigate how better servies ould be provided. See next page for more information. 44

59 Communiations There have been a number of major developments in the ommuniations setor in Ireland over the past year. SIRO s FTTP rollout to 50 towns has gained momentum with over 120 premises now passed eir s rollout to 300k rural premises has made signifiant progress, with over 145 premises now passed A onsortium led by Frenh billionaire Xavier Niel aquired a majority stake in eir Five operators were awarded spetrum in the 3.6Ghz band aution - Imagine, Vodafone, 3 Ireland, Meteor and Airspan The EU s Roam like at home harges ame into effet in June 2017 Carphone Warehouse s mobile brand, id Mobile, went into liquidation Vodafone launhed a Nationwide Narrow band IOT servie Three Ireland, eir and Vodafone ontinued to rollout 4G overage aross Ireland b Coverage and onnetivity Meeting the ountry s needs Eonomi impat On an industry level, the impat of the high level of ommerial investment has been seen in the European indies for onnetivity. In the Digital Eonomy and Soiety Index, Ireland has onsiderably improved its performane in Teleommuniations Connetivity, now ranking 11th among EU ountries ompared to 15th in In partiular, Ireland s overage of fast broadband (NGA) grew to 89% and is well above the EU average (80%) along with take-up whih is at 51%, learly above the EU average of 33%. However, a key hallenge remains the defiit of fast broadband in rural areas. The award of the NBP ontrat is an essential enabler to address the digital divide between urban and rural areas. Another signifiant enabler for investment is the ompletion of ComReg s wholesale market review proess this year, whih is needed to bring ertainty to wholesale market pries and onditions. Considerable progress has been made during 2017 through the implementation of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskfore ations. Broadband Offiers have now been appointed in every loal Authority to assist in addressing any barriers to ommerial deployment of broadband and mobile infrastruture. The Taskfore ations should ontinue to be implemented to assist in addressing any barriers to ommerial deployment of broadband and mobile infrastruture and to ease the full build and rollout of the network planned under the NBP. 45