ESB: Cork flood risk greater than previously thought
The ESB today admitted that the chance of a repeat of the devastating Cork flooding of 12 months ago is now greater than they had previously believed.
The State agency, which is responsible for the management of Inniscarra and Carrigadrohid dams on the Lee river, had previously stated that last November’s disaster was a one-in-800 year occurrence.
However, a preliminary report carried out by the ESB into the flooding in the city last year has concluded the prospect of a ‘significant flood event’ is actually “greater than previous studies have indicated”. They would not say what the new estimate is.
The ESB revealed this report, which has not been made public, also found the inflow to the reservoirs during the flood was “two and a half times their combined normal storage capacity”.
And they have admitted no changes have been made to their operating procedures in the last 11 months.
This is despite a recommendation contained in the Lee Flood Risk Management Plan (CFRAMS) to do so.
The ESB stated they will not make any changes to their operating procedures until the “completion of downstream works” by the Office of Public Works (OPW).
Worryingly, no date has as yet been given as to when these works will even commence.
CFRAMS had recommended that the works by the ESB should be undertaken in conjunction — and not after — the OPW measures.
The ESB said after the OPW works had been completed they would then be “in a position to change operating procedures to allow increased discharges from Inniscarra, improving our ability to lower reservoir levels in advance of heavy rain”.
The water levels at Inniscarra and Carrigadrohid were 46.4 metres and 63 metres respectively yesterday.
While the ESB said these levels are “within the normal operating bands for the reservoirs”, the body also stated the levels were “unseasonably low due to the small amount of rainfall over the last number of weeks”.
Cllr Dara Murphy, the former Lord Mayor of Cork, said he had gone from “concerned to furious” with the lack of action from the ESB in the last 11 months.
He said the major responsibility must be for water management and not on generating electricity — and that there was still too much water being held in the dams in a bid to generate energy as cheaply as possible.
