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The partially ice covered Lough Ban ( The White Lake), in the morning light on the Curragh Plains in County Kildare Eamonn Farrell/Photocall Ireland
flood prevention
New website monitors 'real time' water levels
The site was launched by Minister of State Brian Hayes TD, as part of flood risk management in Ireland.
A NEW WEBSITE has been launched that monitors water levels as part of managing flood risk around the country.
The site, www.waterlevel.ie, went live recently and was launched today by Brian Hayes, TD, Minister of State with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW). The website was created by the hydrometric section his office, the OPW.
How it works
The OPW operates surface water monitoring stations at over 380 river, lake and tidal locations throughout Ireland. The website provides access to real time water level data at over 300 of these stations and the website supports OPW in its role as the lead agency for flood risk management in Ireland.
It also provides support to local authorities in dealing with flood events nationwide. Recent visits to the site have increased, which Hayes said can be attributed to heavy rain forecasts and a rainfall warning for the Dublin area issued by Met Éireann.
The Minister said:
In addition to the value of the data to support the operations of the OPW and Local Authorities, the data is also of interest to a range of other users, including members of the public and clubs involved in a wide variety of water-related recreational activities, such as fishing, boating, canoeing and kayaking.
He said that the site has been designed to be simple and easy to use, with raw data that can be easily downloaded by users for reuse. Water level data is typically updated every 15 minutes for each station.
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