MAKING SPACE FOR WATER CONFERENCE
23 April 2015, University of Manchester, Renold Building
Neil Davies
Environment Agency
Adoption of land management activities for dealing with flood risk
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As stated in the Pitt Review (2007), flood risk cannot be managed by simply building ever bigger hard
defences.
Softer natural measures, such as land management, flood storage areas, woody debris dams in rivers
channels, and managed re-alignment schemes, can offer more sustainable ways of reducing flood
risks.
These measures can also achieve many additional benefits, such as reduced soil erosion and
sedimentation of lakes and rivers, carbon capture and storage, improved water quality, and enhanced
biodiversity.
The Flood and Water Management Act (2010) and the National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk
Management Strategy (2011) state that all risk management authorities must work with natural
processes where possible to reduce flood risk.
Example of schemes using natural measures to reduce flood risk
‘Slowing the Flow’ at Pickering
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The ‘Slow the Flow’ project in Pickering brought together multiple partners to demonstrate how better
land management could reduce flood risk in Pickering, North Yorkshire.
The project uses a range of measures, including reducing run-off from agricultural land, flood storage
areas, woody debris dams, and planting trees in upland areas.
The Environment Agency is leading on the construction of a flood storage area in Newtondale,
upstream of Pickering, on Pickering Beck - designed to hold back some 120,000 cubic metres of flood
water in Newtondale, at times of peak flow down Pickering Beck.
The scheme will improve the standard of protection for Pickering - from a 25% chance of flooding in
any given year to a 4% chance or less.
The scheme is due to be completed in September 2015 at a cost of £3.5 million.
Fordingbridge Flood Defence Scheme, Hampshire
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This was a multi-authority collaboration to deliver an integrated approach to reduce flood risk in
Fordingbridge, Hampshire.
The 1:100 year scheme minimised the amount of hard defences by diverting flood water to the
floodplain southwest of Fordingbridge - the scheme also enhanced large areas of wetland habitat.
The scheme, which opened in 2006, protects approximately 300 properties and the town centre, and
cost around £4 million.
Belford flood alleviation scheme
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The main aim of the Belford project was to slow down and reduce runoff from the farmland upstream of
the town - the main cause of flooding.
Land management measures were installed throughout the catchment, including large woody debris
dams, flood storage ponds, permeable timber barriers, wooden screens and field ponds.
Costing around £200,000, the scheme was installed after a study of the area suggested the cost of a
conventional flood risk management (storage reservoirs and flood walls) scheme for the town would
cost around £2.5 m.
The scheme has been trialled as part of a five-year research project by experts from Newcastle
University in partnership with the Environment Agency.
The techniques have provided multiple benefits, including reducing flood risk, providing new habitat for
wildlife, improved water quality, and farmers have seen improved yields from crops grown where field
ponds have been created.
Herne Hill and Dulwich Flood Alleviation Scheme
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Multi partnership approach to reduce the risk of surface water and sewer flooding in Dulwich and
Herne Hill, London
In consultation with the local community, flood alleviation measures were installed in a local park earth bunds to temporarily contain or redirect surface water into existing water bodies, increase storage
capacity of existing water bodies, and the construction of below ground storage areas to provide further
capacity.
The scheme has achieved multiple benefits, including reducing flood risk through sustainable urban
surface water management and creating and enhancing areas of habitat.
The scheme, completed in February 2015 at a cost of around £4 million, reduces flood risk to around
170 households.
Medmerry coastal realignment scheme
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The Medmerry scheme involved realigning around 7 km of new defences inland to create around
180ha of new intertidal habitat area.
The newly created wetland area and defences increases the standard of protection to an initial 1 in
1000, falling to 1 in 100 over 100 years.
The scheme helps reduce flood risk to around 350 homes, only access road into Selsey, a waste water
treatment works, and around 3000 static caravans in the local holiday park.
We have now signed a lease with the RSPB for them to manage the new habitat as an important
nature reserve.
The RSPB will manage the land and public access, whilst the Environment Agency will continue to
manage the flood risk management assets.
The scheme opened in November 2013 at a total cost of around £28m.
Steart Marshes coastal realignment scheme
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The realignment scheme created around 250 hectares of new intertidal and wetland habitat that act as
natural flood defences.
The scheme helps to reduce the risk of flooding to Steart Village and the major supply lines to Hinkley
Point nuclear power station.
The scheme opened in September 2014 at a cost of around £21m.
The area is managed by our partners, The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, as a nature reserve.
The construction of Steart Marshes also means that the Environment Agency can continue its
maintenance of flood risk schemes elsewhere in the Severn Estuary that protect 100,000 homes and
businesses, a benefit valued at around £5 billon.
Helping others to implement natural measures to reduce flood risk
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In January 2012 we published our new report Greater Working with Natural Processes in Flood and
Coastal Erosion Risk Management, which complement our previous document, Working with Natural
Processes to manage Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk (March 2010).
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Both reports highlight ways to reduce flood risk through the use of natural processes.
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We have completed a diverse range of research into flood risk and natural flood management to show
how flood risk can be reduced using natural measures.
Our Working with Natural Processes Research and Development Framework identifies further
research projects which need to be undertaken to help flood risk management authorities make the
most of natural flood management measures.
We are also continuing to fund ongoing projects from our Flood and Coastal Risk Management
Portfolio, such as:
o £15k to plug a funding gap in the Moors for the Future project
o £10k to the National Trust - Catchments in Trust project
But there is still more that we can do
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We will continue to work with and build on existing partnerships to showcase natural flood
management good practice, demonstrating how working with natural processes manages and reduces
flood risk and achieves a wide range of societal benefits.
Schemes that use natural processes tend to have a lot of different organisations involved - this can
make it harder to get these off the ground - but with greater integration of funding and organisations it
is possible to deliver multiple benefits for people, properties and wildlife.
We will continue to work with Defra to influence and inform policy and guidance to achieve common
flood risk and environmental objectives using natural processes.
We will also continue to develop a programme of applied research and development, including
progressing projects that will help map priority catchments where natural flood management is most
likely to provide flood risk benefits.
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We have a long way to go before natural flood risk management and greater working with natural
processes are common and widespread responses to flooding – but we have made significant
progress over the last few years – and we have an active programme in place to make further
significant progress.