The Office of Public Works (OPW) and its partners, Cork City Council and Cork County Council, have recognised the high levels of flood risk in and around the River Lee, its tributaries and Cork Harbour.
To address this issue, the Lee CFRAMS, a catchment-based flood risk assessment and management study of the entire Lee Catchment, including the River Lee, its tributaries and Cork Harbour, is being undertaken by Halcrow.
The Lee CFRAMS is the first pilot CFRAM Study for the new Flood Risk Assessment and Management Programme, which is at the core of the delivery of the new Flood Policy adopted by the Irish Government in 2004, shifting the emphasis in addressing flood risk towards a catchment-based, pro-active approach for identifying and managing existing, and potential future, flood risk.
The aim of the study is to develop an economically, socially and environmentally appropriate long-term strategy (a Flood Risk Management Plan) for managing the risk to help ensure the safety and sustainability of communities in the Lee Catchment both now and into the future.
The draft Lee Catchment Flood Risk Management Plan was published for consultation on 1 February 2010.