Flood Information Service Ireland - Floodzee
Manmade Flooding –Manmade flooding refers to flooding which originates from manmade sources. The principal sources in this category are Dams, including hydroelectric power plants, impoundments and other flood control structures, canals, aqueducts, artificial river diversions and other manmade structures. The mechanism for flooding from these structures is similar where the flood is either too large for the capacity of the structure and its design levels are exceeded or sometimes from poor operation of the structure. This can include mistakes as to the correct operation and even negligence in operation. Flooding from manmade sources is mostly associated with prolonged background rainfall and then single excessive falls of rain or similar large rain falls at the end of prolonged wet spells.
Due to the scale and nature of manmade structures flooding from these sources can be catastrophic but is generally rare. The effects of manmade flooding can be severe and prolonged and it can take a significant length of time to repair such structures once flooding occurs. This is particularly true if the structure is breached.
Manmade flooding is exacerbated by river flooding and excessive rainfall flooding. They sometimes combine to create additional severe flood risk. Due to the nature of the operation of such manmade sources of flooding it can be difficult to predict these types of flood. However they are frequently associated with elevated river and excessive rainfall flood risk.