NI Water has not identified need for capital investment to address sewer flooding on Foyle Road: O’Dowd

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NI Water has not identified a need for any capital investment to address sewer flooding in the Foyle Road area, according to Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd.

Mr. O’Dowd was asked about flood alleviation plans near the Brandywell by Foyle MLA Mark H. Durkan.

He replied: “NI Water has advised that the Culmore Drainage Area Plan (DAP) has now been completed and has not identified a requirement for any capital interventions to address out of sewer flooding from NI Water infrastructure in this area.”

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The ‘Culmore DAP or ‘Culmore study’ refers to the DAP for Derry as a whole as most of the wastewater in the city is pumped to the Culmore Waste Water Treatment plant where it is treated before being discharged safely into Lough Foyle.

Mark H. DurkanMark H. Durkan
Mark H. Durkan

Although the plan has not identified a need for capital investment in the Foyle Road area, storm separation is being looked at in the Lone Moor Road district, the minister confirmed.

"In addition, NI Water has also recently undertaken some storm separation work around the Lone Moor Road area, this has involved removing storm water from the combined sewer network. Further investigations are ongoing in the area to identify other potential opportunities for storm separation,” he declared.

Separating sewage and rainwater systems removes the need for storm overflows but is costly.

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Mr. Durkan said: “Following recent traffic chaos caused by flooding along the Foyle Road the mind really does boggle that recent assessment from the Department for Infrastructure has not identified the need for storm overflows along this route.

“Climate change and flooding should not be treated as an afterthought. The current budget outlook is deeply concerning, the failure to properly invest in NI Water could see widespread flooding; significant pollution and risk to public health as well as the surrounding environment.

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"Communities are suffering in the absence of adequate infrastructure, the current budget allocation does nothing to alleviate that suffering or safeguard people from future incidents of flooding.”

In his response to Mr. Durkan’s Written Question Mr. O’Dowd said his Department is ‘continuing to lead the development of a Strategic Drainage Infrastructure Plan for Derry, similar to the Living With Water in Belfast Plan, in collaboration with key stakeholders. As part of this development my Department published ‘A Vision for Living With Water in Derry’ in May 2023, and I intend to publish the draft Living With Water in Derry Plan for consultation later this year’.

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In its 2023 ‘A Vision for Living With Water in Derry’ document DfI acknowledged the need for greater investment in sewerage infrastructure in Derry in general.

"Capacity at Culmore WwTW is currently being exhausted due to increasing development across the city and water infiltration through the ageing sewer network.

"This impacts the resilience of the treatment works and its ability to cope with unexpected events and could result in pollution to the environment,” the document states.

It points out that much of the original sewerage system built in the 19th and 20th century is still in service in the Derry area.

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