Flood prevention plan for Westport washed away

FLOODING FEAR Parts of Westport town centre, like this car park on James Street, were completely flooded during the Storm Desmond floods in 2015. Pic: Conor McKeown

Cost of works along Carrowbeg River deemed ‘not cost beneficial’

Neill O’Neill

FLOOD prevention works will not be carried out in Westport Town, after it was revealed yesterday (Monday) that the required interventions along the Carrowbeg River have been classified as ‘not cost beneficial’.
The revelation came in a presentation of the Western Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) report to councillors of the West Mayo Municipal District, who were told that the national system for determining and prioritising investment in flood relief and prevention works found that in the event of a one in 1,000 year flooding event occurring at the Carrowbeg River in Westport Town, it would cause only €620,000 worth of damage in total.
Therefore, that is the maximum sum of money that it would be permissible under current Government guidelines to spend on any flood relief or prevention works in Westport Town.
However, preliminary investigations conducted as part of the report have shown that the cost of implementing flood prevention along the North and South Mall boulevards in the town would be approximately €1 million. As this amount exceeds the €620,000 in damage that it is estimated would be caused by a one in 1,000 year or ‘extreme’ flooding event, it has been deemed to not be cost effective to do any works, and so no flood prevention works will take place in the town centre.

December 2015
This is certain to cause great dismay to householders and business owners located along the Carrowbeg River in Westport, and to the community in general. The river rises in the Aughagower Parish and enters Clew Bay at Westport House and in December 2015 heavy rainfall saw its levels swell all along its course, causing widespread flooding. It rose to the very top of the old stone walls which channel it through the town in Westport, and the main bridge over the river at Castlebar Street and Bridge Street was closed by emergency services and Mayo County Council personnel, out of a very real fear that the bridge could be washed away, such was the force and current of water flowing against it.
For over 30 hours that weekend, the emergency services battled around the clock to prevent the river walls collapsing and more widespread flooding, though flooding was caused at St Mary’s Crescent and on Lower James Street, with Westport Leisure Park only saved by the prompt pumping action of the fire brigade.
It was noted yesterday during the presentation to councillors that the estimation of a maximum of €620,000 of damage that could be caused by a one in 1,000 year flooding event in Westport town, includes expenses for emergency services, loss of utilities, business disruption and damage to property. The accuracy of this figure has already been disputed by some people. The flooding event in December 2015 was described yesterday as a one in 100 year flooding event, or slightly more than this. The formula used to determine whether prevention works are cost effective is based on spreadsheets, numbers and guidelines and cost factors are assigned on criteria such as the type of property and the depth of likely flooding.
It was stated by representatives from the Office of Public Works (OPW) and JBA Consulting, who were tasked with undertaking the CFRAM report in this region, that ‘the same tried and tested system is being applied to every town in Ireland’.

Cois Abhainn
However, there was better news for some of the beleaguered residents of the Cois Abhainn Estate on the Ballinrobe Road in Westport, as the CFRAM Report determined that the installation of a new embankment to the rear of the houses there would be cost beneficial. Mayo County Council will now have to apply for special funding to carry out the works, which it is hoped will prevent a repeat of the flooding that severely damaged houses in the estate in December 2015. No time frame was placed on the completion of this work.