1st May 2021 – The Natural Flood Management project co-ordinated by the Inishowen Rivers Trust launched it’s first community meeting online on Thursday 29th April 2021. Although we would very much like to meet face-to-face in the community centre, this has not been possible due to Covid restrictions. The online meeting ‘Meet the Flood Team‘ still enabled us to meet in some capacity and discuss flooding in the area. The flood consultants, Philip Duffy and Vincent Bradley from McCloy Consulting were present as well as the Landowner Liaison Officer Mark Davenport.
The event started with a brief welcome address by our chairperson Claire Thompson and was followed with the first public showing of a short video on the project. This is the second video produced for the project by MacRuari Audio and Film Services. You can view both videos on the Trust’s YouTube channel. Following the video, the Trust Project Officer, Trish Murphy, gave a short presentation on the project and Philip Duffy gave a short run down on the work of the flood consultants to date. Then it was the turn of the community to ask questions. Many thanks to everyone who contributed on the night. We discussed types of flooding, monitoring flow, flow meters, impact of high tides, leaky dams, beavers and the language around flood management. There will be plenty of opportunity to ask further questions and the Trust wish to ensure that everyone is kept up-to-date.
This project aims to involve the community as much as possible in a co-design and co-production capacity. The usual measures employed in natural flood management are small and do not alter how a land is farmed. These measures are nature based and mimic how nature manages a river and copes in times of flooding. Often they are small, fit well into the landscape and require little or no maintenance.
Why Get Involved?
The community in Clonmany suffered a very traumatic flood in 2017. This had a huge economic impact on the community and not just to those whose houses were affected. Damage to the community centre, the waste water treatment plant, the road and bridges all impacted on the community. Even if you live at the top of the catchment the impact spreads to everyone.
The village of Clonmany has flooded many times in the past and suffered from devastating landslides. The very nature of the catchment with it’s magnificent scenery means the area is prone to flash flooding. With changing weather patterns there is likely to be more storms and more droughts. Our land and our rivers need to be more resilient to these changes and nature is our best solution.
Everyone in the catchment has a part they can play by letting the flood experts walk your rivers to learn more about how they work, to hosting a flow metre or checking water levels, to installing a measure on your land or volunteering to build and monitor a measure. Call us to chat about how you help. This will be a true community effort.
Anyone who wishes to engage in the project can contact the Landowner Liaison Officer Mark Davenport on 083 812 3218 or on [email protected].
Read more about the project here
Many thanks to our funders.
