Washlands

During Flood events, the new dam operating procedures will involve increased advance discharges to create storage in the reservoirs. This has the effect of slightly increasing the frequency of medium flood events, which will result in earlier and more frequent flooding (in medium flood events) of primarily agricultural lands downstream in areas termed as ‘Washlands’.

‘Washlands’ are those areas adjacent to the river (and part of the Lee floodplain) which under the Scheme, will be deliberately flooded in advance of a forecasted extreme event, to facilitate pre-emptive lowering of water levels in Carrigadrohid and Inniscarra reservoirs, to create additional storage/attenuation capacity, and subsequently reduce the peak flow during the event.

These are areas, where in times of flooding, inundation by water is expected and can be appropriately managed.  Proposals ensure that water levels are contained within areas where people and nature will not be adversely impacted.

The areas of designated washlands can be seen in the drawings presented below.