Rain is washing our coasts away
Bad weather is leading to hundreds of devastating landslides every month
IRELAND’S coastlines are crumbling as heavier rainfall is resulting in hundreds of landslides every month, a new study reveals.
There were 539 reported landslides since the start of June along the east coast of Ireland, with almost half of these in October.
The study, carried out by researchers from Dublin City University and Trinity College Dublin, is the first of its kind to measure coastal erosion using ordinary citizens to help track landslides in Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford.
This year has already seen record rainfall, with July being the wettest on record, meaning significant parts of the country have already exceeded their average annual amount of rainfall.
Principal investigator of the Accomplish Project, Dr Niamh Cullen, said she expected to see an increase in landslides due to heavier rain brought about by climate change, but was surprised at the extent of the coastal erosion.
She told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘At the start, I don’t know that we expected to see this many landslides. Some of them are smaller, but there are quite a few pretty significant ones.
‘We have seen the largest number of reports in Wexford, followed by Dublin and then relatively few in Wicklow – there are quite a few rocky headlands in Wexford.
‘It stands to reason [the number of landslides in] Wexford is so high because it has long stretches of sedimentary and sandy cliffs, particularly around Tinnaberna and Rosslare.
‘In Dublin, around Shankill particularly, there have been a few bigger landslides.’
The study was carried out by 50 volunteers, who were trained in how to properly identify landslides. They were given an app on their phones so that every time they were out along the coast and they spotted a landslide, they would take a picture and submit the image.
The app would measure the location of the picture and allow the scientists to document where landslides were taking place.
Nine weather stations were set up; five in Wexford, two in Dublin and two in Wicklow. This allowed the scientists to analyse submissions they received and compare them against the rainfall in the area. Monitoring began on June 1 and ended on October 31. A total of 45 landslides were reported in June, 54 in July, 126 in August, 53 in September and 261 in October. Commenting on the group’s findings, Dr Cullen said: ‘We have noticed that when you get heavy or intense precipitation events, we see a spike in the number of landslide reports on the coast. The general understanding is that you get coastal erosion during the winter time, due to storms, and then you see recovery in the summer. But actually, what we’ve started to see is that the heavy summer rainfall we experienced this year led to an increase in the number of coastal landslides.’
Dr Cullen also explained how the team had received an influx of reports this week, as Storm Ciarán blew through the south.
Six counties were placed under yellow weather warnings as 15mm of rain fell overnight on Thursday in Ashford, Co. Wicklow. Other parts of the southeast experienced 10mm of rain.
While the storm was ultimately
‘We have seen the largest number in Wexford’
less severe than anticipated, the saturated ground and high river levels mean areas remain highly susceptible to flooding.
The latest flooding came as the Office for Public Works (OPW) published its long awaited blueprint to deal with coastal erosion last week. There is currently no national strategy to deal with rising water levels. Instead, each county council is responsible for its own section of coastline, meaning different local authorities are employing different approaches and strategies, sometimes to the detriment of one another.
The report, published by Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien and OPW Minister Patrick O’Donovan, warned it is ‘inevitable’ the State will have to move people from homes that are too close to the coast and in danger.
It marked the first time the Government acknowledged a ‘managed retreat’ from certain coastal areas will be needed, and how it will work with communities to identify individual homes and properties at risk from coastal change.
Managed retreat is the process of moving people and infrastructure away from the coast and allowing natural erosion to take place.
This will then allow for the land to be absorbed by the sea.
The report said: ‘Even with comprehensive monitoring systems and a policy of appropriate intervention, it is inevitable that, as a State, we will be faced in some circumstances with the need to coordinate a managed-retreat strategy, as the safest, most appropriate response in certain cases to rising sea levels and the associated impact on the national coastline.
‘This is a difficult and complex intervention.
‘However, by not taking steps to recognise and ameliorate its difficulties, the State will likely be faced with an uncoordinated, reactive or emergency response to unfolding events, such as immediately following, or during, major coastal storm events.’
Dr Cullen welcomed the report for finally tackling the reality of managed retreat. She told the MoS: ‘It’s very politically sensitive because you are talking about putting in compulsory purchase orders and asking people to move out of their homes, so it’s not something that’s been talked about before.
‘The report is good in that sense, in that it is finally acknowledging that it might be a strategy that we have to look at in the future,’ she said.
She added: ‘We’ve been waiting for this for the past two years, it’s been a long time coming and we are quite far behind some other countries who already have national strategies but it’s a roadmap to provide a framework for decisions on how we best manage the coastline.
‘It’s about implementing the recommendations in the report now. It takes time to implement this, it takes money and it takes resources. It’s going to take a while but we’re on the road,’ she added.
‘This a difficult and complex intervention’