Sir, – David Doran suggests dredging the river Slaney in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, to prevent flooding (“Enniscorthy river blockages contributing to flooding”, Letters, October 7th).
Experience in Britain and Ireland has shown that this seemingly simple solution may not be the best way to proceed.
Upstream management with restoration of woodland, re-meandering and removal of flood banks to allow reconnection to flood plains has worked in the Tweed Catchment Management Plan on the Scottish-English border.
Similar work has been done in Dartmoor/Holnicote, southwest England, with compensation paid to farmers for interventions.
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Trinity College Dublin has published nature-based solutions, modelling and field intervention studies showing successful intervention is possible in Ireland.
Simple dredging would send the flood water downstream to Wexford more rapidly and do nothing to address the real causes: a man-made combination of overgrazed hills and canal-like riverbanks. – Yours, etc,
DAVID O’KEEFFE,
Bearna,
Co Galway.
