Flooding in Warwickshire
What you can do with our support
Many communities in Warwickshire are being empowered to reduce their own flood risk.
Several groups who are being supported by WCC and partners have taken the decision to deliver within the community natural flood management schemes (NFM). These schemes typically involve the creation of wetland areas, retention ponds and leaky dams in watercourses to replicate or restore natural landforms and processes.
These features are typically placed high up in the catchment and are intended to slow the flow, providing storage during storms. This means that whilst the total volume of water that ultimately passes through a town or village downstream remains the same, that volume of water should not pass through all at once and the peak of the flood should be reduced.
This perhaps shows how far flood management has come over the last few decades, as historically much effort has been placed on ensuring watercourses are kept clear, but in this instance real benefit is being achieve by actively obstructing upstream watercourses. NFM is unlikely to provide a complete solution in preventing flooding, but can reduce it, while offering an exciting opportunity to adapt for and mitigate our changing climate. The benefits do not stop there, NFM style flood schemes can have wide reaching wider benefits by reducing pollution, managing sediment transport and creating new areas of habitat.
To find out more about the risk of flooding where you live, the Environment Agency's Long Term Flood Risk map allows residents to quickly check the risk of their area. Information on how WCC manages flood risk can be found in the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy and Surface Water Management Plan.