PUNCH Consulting Engineers were appointed by Meath County Council to carry out an assessment of the flooding problems in the Northlands Estate in Bettystown, Co. Meath. The study consisted of a desktop study of the flooding events, a site walkover, a hydrological study of the catchments upstream and a hydraulic model of the Mornington Stream. The hydrological study was driven by an analysis of LIDAR data of the surrounding area. The study concluded that the Northlands estate is generally low lying in relation to the surrounding lands and that drainage from the Northlands estate was limited by gradients. The nature of the catchment upstream of the Northlands Estate is such that nutrient laden sediment was being eroded from the catchment and being deposited in the channels in the vicinity of the Northlands Estate.

This nutrient rich sediment in combination with water provided an ideal media for growth, which led to significant vegetation growth, particularly during the summer and autumn months. This had a dramatic influence on the conveyance capacity of the channel. An ISIS 1d hydraulic model of the channels was used to carry out some sensitivity testing on the roughness of the channel. A number of remedial measures were suggested including a sacrificial storage area, flood defences, pumping for flood waters and channel maintenance regimes.