Office of Public Works Arterial Drainage Maintenance Works - Nenagh Arterial Drainage Scheme 2018 - 2022 Stage 2: Natura Impact Statement December 2017 Office of Public Works Main Street Headford Co Galway Ireland JBA Project Manager Tom Sampson 24 Grove Island Corbally Limerick Ireland Revision History Revision Ref / Date Issued Amendments Issued to Draft Report / December Tony Brew 2017 Contract This report describes work commissioned by the Office of Public Works by a letter dated 31/08/17. The Office of Public Work’s representative for the contract was Tony Brew. Tanya Slattery, Jon Harrison, Catalina Herrera and Laura Thomas of JBA Consulting carried out this work. Prepared by .................................................. Tanya Slattery BSc MSc MSc (Res) Ecologist Reviewed by ................................................. Laura Thomas BA MRes PGCert CEcol MCIEEM Chartered Senior Ecologist Purpose This document has been prepared as a Draft Report for the OPW. JBA Consulting accepts no responsibility or liability for any use that is made of this document other than by the Client for the purposes for which it was originally commissioned and prepared. JBA Consulting has no liability regarding the use of this report except to the OPW. 2017s6456 - Office of Public Works - NIS Nenagh V1.0 .docx i Copyright © Jeremy Benn Associates Limited 2017 Carbon Footprint A printed copy of the main text in this document will result in a carbon footprint of 247g if 100% post- consumer recycled paper is used and 315g if primary-source paper is used. These figures assume the report is printed in black and white on A4 paper and in duplex. JBA is aiming to reduce its per capita carbon emissions. 2017s6456 - Office of Public Works - NIS Nenagh V1.0 .docx ii Contents 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Legislative context .............................................................................................................. 1 1.3 Appropriate Assessment Process ...................................................................................... 1 1.4 Methodology....................................................................................................................... 3 2 Project Description ................................................................................................. 6 2.1 Arterial Drainage Maintenance ........................................................................................... 6 2.2 Drainage Maintenance Activities ........................................................................................ 6 2.3 The Nenagh Arterial Drainage Maintenance Scheme and Proposed Works ...................... 11 3 Screening Assessment Results ............................................................................. 15 4 Existing Environment ............................................................................................. 21 4.1 General ecology of the site ................................................................................................ 21 4.2 Description of habitats present ........................................................................................... 21 5 Natura 2000 sites within the Zone of Influence of the works/scheme ................... 24 5.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 24 5.2 Lough Derg Shannon SPA (004058) .................................................................................. 24 6 Appropriate Assessment........................................................................................ 26 6.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 26 6.2 Identification of Potential Sources of Impact ...................................................................... 26 6.3 Impact Assessment ............................................................................................................ 29 6.4 Impact Evaluation ............................................................................................................... 32 7 Avoidance and Mitigation Measures ...................................................................... 37 8 Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 39 References.......................................................................................................................... I A Appendices ............................................................................................................ III 2017s6456 - Office of Public Works - NIS Nenagh V1.0 .docx iii List of Figures Figure 1-1: The Appropriate Assessment Process (from: Appropriate Assessment of Plans and Projects in Ireland - Guidance for Planning Authorities, DoEHLG, 2009).. 2 Figure 1-2: Screening assessment process ...................................................................... 4 Figure 2-1 Extent of Nenagh Arterial Drainage Scheme .................................................... 12 Figure 3-1 Channels and embankments with potential impacts via surface water pathways ........................................................................................................................... 15 Figure 3-2 Channels and embankments with potential impacts via land and air pathways ........................................................................................................................... 17 Table 3-2 Summary results of QIs / FOIs with potential land and air connectivity, resulting in a potential for impact from the proposed works through land and air pathways ........................................................................................................................... 17 Figure 3-3 Channels and embankments with potential impacts via groundwater pathways ........................................................................................................................... 18 Figure 4-1 Reedbeds on bank of Lough Derg .................................................................... 22 Figure 4-2 Nenagh River .................................................................................................... 23 List of Tables Table 2-1: OPW Drainage Maintenance Subcategories ................................................... 6 Table 2-2: OPW Drainage Maintenance Types ................................................................. 6 Table 2-3 Channels at Nenagh, planned works and frequency of maintenance ................ 12 Table 3-1 Summary results of SWD QIs / FOIs with potential surface water pathways, potential Annex I habitats present and potential for significant impact ............. 16 Table 3-3 Summary of Natura 2000 habitats potentially present in the zone of influence of the works that may potentially be significantly impacted by the proposed works ........................................................................................................................... 19 Table 3-4 Summary of screening results for Nenagh scheme ........................................... 19 Table 4-1 Main habitats present at Nenagh Scheme ......................................................... 21 Table 5-1 Qualifying interests and their attributes for Lough Derg SPA ............................ 24 Table 5-2 List of pressures and threats to Lough Derg SPA .............................................. 25 Table 6-1 Potential pathways of impact to the attributes of the designated features of Lough Derg SPA .......................................................................................................... 26 Table 6-2 Impact evaluation table ...................................................................................... 32 Table 7-1 Specific mitigation measures for Nenagh Arterial Drainage Scheme ................ 37 Table 8-1 Integrity of Natura 2000 site checklist (DoEHLG 2009) ..................................... 39 2017s6456 - Office of Public Works - NIS Nenagh V1.0 .docx iv Abbreviations AA ................................... Appropriate Assessment CA ................................... Competent Authority COs ................................. Conservation Objectives DoEHLG .......................... Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government EDM ................................ Environmental Drainage Maintenance EPA ................................. Environmental Protection Agency EREP .............................. Environmental River Enhancement Programme FOI .................................. Features of Interest GIS .................................. Geographical Information Services GWD ............................... Ground Water Dependant HDPE .............................. High-density polyethylene IFI .................................... Inland Fisheries Ireland IRB .................................. International River Basin IROPI .............................. Imperative Reasons of Over-riding Public Interest I-WeBS ............................ Irish Wetland Bird Survey MAC ................................ Machine Access Channel NIS .................................. Natura Impact Statement NBDC .............................. National Biodiversity Date