A GREEN Party councillor has asked that the option of using farmland to help store water as part of the solution to flooding in the Clifden area should be examined by the consultants engaged in the project.

Cllr. Alastair McKinstry told last Friday’s Connemara Area meeting of councillors in County Hall that all options needed to be looked at in relation to flooding in Clifden.

On September 2, 2020, at least 17 houses suffered major flood damage in Clifden leading to evacuations, after the Owenglin River overflowed into estates following torrential downpours.

Cllr. McKinstry said that the speeding-up of water flow in the drains hadn’t worked well and asked that the storage of water on farmland be examined.

“This [water storage on land] is an option that must be looked at with farmers of course being compensated for any disruptions or losses caused. 300,000 hectares of land in Ireland needs to be rewetted. Let the land flood: it holds the water and holds the carbon in the soil,” he said.

Galway County Council Executive Engineer, Brendan McDonagh, told the meeting that the OPW and the consultants would be examining all options in relation to the Clifden Flood Relief Scheme with the detailed design scheduled to be completed by Quarter 3, 2024.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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