A critical evaluation of sustainable stormwater management practice and policy in Dublin.

Ireland has experienced significant recent changes as to how the nation's water and wastewater infrastructure is managed, as a result of a national water utility, Irish Water, being founded in 2013. The management of surface and foul water used to be governed by local authorities, with inherently local outlooks with respect to the prevention of both pollution and flooding. The introduction of Irish Water with a more national (and global) agenda into this traditionally locally focused service has introduced an additional layer of governance. This study has used this management structure overhaul opportunity to make a critical evaluation of current sustainable stormwater management practices and policies in Ireland, using Dublin as a case study. From a combination of structured interviews and literature review, the paper evaluates the conditions that help promote effective sustainable drainage policies and implementation against those aspects that cause such infrastructure to be merely an irrelevant add-on. The key barriers to the uptake of sustainable stormwater management practices in Ireland have been summarised as well as suggestions made as to how these can be overcome. This research has highlighted the need for the engineer to play a more visible role in such matters of public interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]