Nature projects cut flood risk to 15,000 homes
Sixty nature-based projects have reduced the risk of flooding to 15,000 homes in England, while improving or creating 610km of river and 4,000 hectares of habitat.
The pilot projects were part of a £15 million natural flood management programme, funded by the UK government and led by the Environment Agency.
In an evaluation report, the agency said that natural flood management, such as slowing down river flow, restoring wetlands and targeted woodland planting, must be a core part of England’s defence against flooding and climate change. The approach improves resilience to flooding, enhances biodiversity, stores carbon and helps regulate the local climate.
Natural flood management works by restoring and emulating the natural processes of catchments, rivers, floodplains and coasts. Wider benefits include improving habitats, increasing water quality and availability of drinking water, and improving health and wellbeing.
Carried out between 2017 and 2021, the pilots included projects to create inland storage ponds and wetlands and build sustainable urban drainage systems such as green roofs and permeable pavements. Collectively the projects slowed and stored water upstream of 15,000 homes in areas at risk of flooding, equivalent to 1.6 million m3. One hundred hectares of woodland were also planted.
“By harnessing the power of nature alongside our traditional flood defences, we can not only help keep communities safer, but also create wildlife havens and tackle the climate emergency.”
Environment Agency chief executive Sir James Bevan outlined his vision for natural flood management to be seen “shoulder to shoulder” with its programme of bricks and mortar hard defences.
He said, “As we prepare for more extreme weather events, we must use every weapon in our armoury and natural flood management will play an essential role in this. By harnessing the power of nature alongside our traditional flood defences, we can not only help keep communities safer, but also create wildlife havens and tackle the climate emergency.”
Other natural measures highlighted in the report included planting trees and hedges to absorb more water, creating leaky barriers to slow water flow in streams and ditches and restoring salt marshes, mudflats, and peat bogs. More than 85 partners including Natural England, the Forestry Commission, rivers and wildlife trusts, local authorities, landowners and universities, supported completion of the projects.
Mark Lloyd, Rivers Trusts chief executive, said, “It is clear that natural flood management has a really important role to play in protecting communities from the misery of flooding, while at the same time making a contribution to nature recovery, pollution prevention, soil protection, drought resilience, amenity value and carbon sequestration.
“Managing landscapes to store more water provides multiple benefits to society, and can therefore attract multiple sources of funding. This pilot programme needs to become business as usual urgently and we need to break down the barriers to delivery at scale."
Sarah Fowler, Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust chief executive, said, “This report demonstrates the power of nature, and wetlands in particular, to tackle flooding. I look forward to WWT working with the Environment Agency, using our expertise in wetland science and wetland delivery, to build natural flood management solutions at scale to manage current and future flood risk.”
The Environment Agency says lessons from the programme will be used to inform more natural projects, with an aim for the approach to become a mainstream part of national flood mitigation efforts.
Projects within the Natural Flood Management Programme:
In London, a partnership between South East Rivers Trust and the London Borough of Sutton has installed sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDS) in six Sutton schools. The project, which included construction of bespoke rain garden planters to store rainwater, disconnected nearly 4.3 hectares of hard surfaces, such as roads, paths, roofs, from the drainage network flowing into the River Wandle, helping to reduce surface water flooding and reduce pollution.
In Cumbria, a variety of measures were undertaken across different landscapes aiming to slow or store 10,000m3 of water per square kilometre. The team worked with a range of landowners and the Forestry Commission to change overland flow routes, build earth dams and leaky barriers, plant 8,000 trees and create offline flood storage ponds.
The community-led Shipston Area Flood Action Group used natural measures across the River Stour in Warwickshire to create 700 leaky barriers and ponds to slow the flow of water during heavy rainfall, reducing the flood risk to people and businesses in 17 villages and towns.
The Natural Flood Management Programme evaluation report can be seen here.