Flood and coastal erosion risk management report: 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018

Question 1

1.  Flood risk

Accepted Answer

Over 5.2 million homes and businesses in England are at risk from flooding.

1.1 Properties at risk of flooding

Sources of flooding include:

rivers
the sea
surface water
groundwater

Some properties are at risk from more than one source of flooding.

During a significant flood there may be disruption to local services and utilities. Over two-thirds of properties are served by infrastructure sites and networks located in (or dependant on others in) areas at risk of flooding. Research shows for every person directly affected during a large flood about 16 more suffer knock-on effects from loss of utility services.

Table 1: properties at risk of flooding from 1 April to 31 March for each year

Source of flooding	2013 to 2014	2014 to 2015	2015 to 2016	2016 to 2017	2017 to 2018
Rivers and sea flooding	2.4 million	2.4 million	2.7 million	2.7 million	2.6 million
Surface water flooding	3 million	3 million	3.2 million	3.2 million	3.2 million
Rivers, the sea and surface water flooding	600,000	600,000	660,000	660,000	660,000
Groundwater flooding	Not available	122,000-290,000	122,000-290,000	122,000-290,000	122,000-290,000

The figures for groundwater in table 1 may include properties at risk of flooding from surface water.

The significant change in the number of properties at risk of flooding between 2015 and 2016 was due to improvements in the data used. The data included:

Ordnance Survey property information
local authority information about individual properties - this data is included for the first time

In the past some properties had not been individually identified. For example, a block of flats may have been identified as one property.

The slight reduction in properties at risk through to 2018 is due to improvements in modelling information.

Table 2: properties in areas at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea, and from surface water from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018

Level of risk	Total number of properties in areas at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea	Number of residential properties in areas at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea	Total number of properties in areas at risk of flooding from surface water	Number of residential properties in areas at risk of flooding from surface water
High	204,000	123,000	324,000	239,000
Medium	694,000	475,000	504,000	395,000
Low	1,064,000	814,000	2,353,000	1,879,000
Very low	629,000	524,000	Not assessed	Not assessed
Total	2,591,000	1,937,000	3,181,000	2,513,000

1.2 Flooding between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018

Between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018 a total of 667 properties were flooded. There was low flood risk until the summer storm season began at the end of May. From July there were several summer storms that affected communities. Table 3 shows the notable floods from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018. The rest of the properties flooded were due to smaller floods.

A total of 8,209 properties were protected during floods between April 2017 and March 2018, due to flood and coastal risk management schemes.

Table 3: notable floods from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018

Location of flood	Date	Number of properties flooded	Number of properties protected
Coverack, Cornwall	14 July 2017	50	0
Scarborough, Yorkshire	22 to 24 August 2017	60	0
Millom, Cumbria	30 September 2017	200	0
Storm Brian, nationwide	End of October 2017	49	240
Galgate, Lancashire	23 November 2017	225	6312

1.3 Households registered to receive flood warnings

Being prepared for flooding helps reduce the impacts and enables faster recovery. The Environment Agency encourages households to register for its free flood warning service. Alerts and warnings enable the public to take action to protect themselves and their possessions.

The Environment Agency’s flood warning service covers flooding from rivers and the sea, and some properties at risk of groundwater flooding. It does not cover flooding from surface water. LLFAs are responsible for flooding from surface water.

Properties can be in more than one flood warning area if affected by both coastal or tidal, and river flooding.

As of 31 March 2018, there were 1,345,426 households registered to receive free flood warnings. This is an increase of 17% on the previous year.

1.4 Flood alerts, flood warnings and severe flood warnings issued

From 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018, the Environment Agency issued:

2,271 flood alerts
420 flood warnings
0 severe flood warnings

See Flood alerts and warnings: what they are and what to do to find out what the different types of warnings mean.

Table 4 and graph: number of flood alerts, flood warnings and severe flood warnings for the period 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018

Month / year	Flood Alert	Flood Warning
Apr 2017	34	3
May 2017	61	0
Jun 2017	119	13
Jul 2017	119	5
Aug 2017	46	5
Sep 2017	84	3
Oct 2017	252	64
Nov 2017	154	33
Dec 2017	367	58
Jan 2018	461	135
Feb 2018	82	12
Mar 2018	484	90

Table 5 and graph: comparison of flood alerts, flood warnings and severe flood warnings issued each year between 2012 and 2018

Years	Flood Alert	Flood Warning	Severe Flood Warning
1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013	4527	2093	15
1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014	3832	1897	147
1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015	2154	343	0
1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016	3432	1285	103
1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017	2037	496	25
1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018	2271	420	0

Question 2

2.  Coastal change

Accepted Answer

The Futurecoast data and the National Coastal Erosion Risk Map shows that approximately 1800km of open coast is eroding to some degree. About a quarter is eroding at more than 10 centimetres per year. In some places it’s eroding more than 2 metres per year. The National Coastal Erosion Risk Map also shows that about 740 properties are at risk from erosion in next 20 years.

Coastal erosion and landslides on the coast affect smaller areas of land than floods but cause permanent loss to property and infrastructure. This can have a significant impact on local economies outside the affected area.

2.1 Shoreline management plans (SMPs)

SMPs continue to provide the long-term management framework for both coastal flooding and erosion. Over the last year there have been no changes to management policies set out in the SMPs. Coastal groups and RFCCs continue to monitor and scrutinise progress against the SMP action plans.

The actions range from:

implementing projects in the 6 year investment programme
ongoing engagement or monitoring activities

Discussions continue about:

how the policies in these plans will be actioned
what contribution local businesses and communities can make
when key decisions should be made about improving flood risk management assets or withdrawing investment

The Environment Agency is co-ordinating a 3 year project to refresh the SMPs that were developed between 2006 and 2012. Six regional coastal groups are supporting the project. The refresh will ensure that SMPs remain current and use the best evidence available to make decisions about managing the coast.

The Environment Agency will also identify options to make SMPs more accessible.

2.2 Coastal habitats

Constructing flood and coastal risk management schemes can sometimes cause loss of valuable coastal habitat. Most losses will arise from ‘coastal squeeze’. This is where flood risk management assets prevent the natural landward migration of habitats. We make long-term future projections about how much habitat will be lost to coastal squeeze.

The Environment Agency reports on compensatory habitat created to offset losses in internationally protected areas in England. It submitted its second report to Defra in January 2018. The report is available on request by contacting enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk

2.2.1 Inter-tidal saltmarsh and mudflats

The Habitats Regulations came into UK law in 1994. Inter-tidal saltmarsh and mudflat habitats are at most risk from coastal squeeze. The total amount of inter-tidal saltmarsh and mudflats created since 1994 is more than the area lost. Since 2000, we have worked with partners to create over 900 hectares of inter-tidal saltmarsh and mudflat. A further 300 hectares is being developed. We estimate that, by 2025, we will have created a total of 296 hectares more than the area lost across England. Large schemes in the Humber Estuary, such as Alkborough Flats, have helped to create this beneficial habitat since 2000.

However, we expect to continue to lose coastal habitat as a result of sea level rise. The Habitat Compensation Programme monitors long-term habitat change at a regional level. The programme also identifies potential sites for further habitat creation.

2.2.2 Other coastal habitats

Other protected habitats at the coast also experience pressure from flood and coastal risk management activity. These include:

saline lagoons and vegetated shingle
freshwater habitats such as reedbed and coastal grazing marsh

The Environment Agency has created an additional 600 hectares of these habitats since the early 2000s. These are mainly reedbed and grazing marsh situated on the east and south-east coast. We need to continue to create these habitats as there are likely to be losses as a result of future schemes.

Vegetated shingle and saline lagoons are difficult to re-create. However, we have identified potential replacement habitat for the projected losses at Dungeness (Kent) and within the Poole and Wareham Strategy (Dorset).

Question 3

3.  Investing to manage risk

Accepted Answer

Understanding flood and coastal erosion risk allows us to identify and take appropriate actions to manage it.

3.1 Investment in FCERM

The current 6 year programme of FCERM schemes runs from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2021. Since 2015, the government has invested approximately £1.25 billion of capital funding in FCERM in England. Of this, the Environment Agency has distributed £334 million to other RMAs. This includes LLFAs and IDBs who use the funding for FCERM schemes.

Since 2015, RFCCs have invested £67 million of capital local levy in FCERM. The local levy is a fund raised from LLFAs by the RFCCs for local priority FCERM projects.

Defra’s flood and coastal erosion resilience partnership funding approach ensures that government funding is available for any FCERM scheme. More funding is available for schemes that:

better protect a greater number of homes
better protect a greater number of homes in deprived areas
provide economic benefits
create or enhance habitats

Some schemes do not justify full funding from government. Partnership funding contributions supplement government funding so that it can go further. Partnership funding encourages more investment and gives local people more choice in how their community is protected. This leads to more completed FCERM schemes overall.

The Environment Agency reviews the programme of FCERM schemes each year to make sure it:

gets the best value for money
will reach the target of 300,000 homes protected between 2015 and 2021

Investment is prioritised where the risk is highest, wherever it is in the country. Each local scheme is carefully considered to identify where most people and property will benefit. The Environment Agency also ensures that future funding is available for FCERM projects up to 2021. This means the amount of funding invested each year can vary.

Table 6: FCERM capital investment from 1 April to 31 March for each year

Investment type (£ million)	2015 to 2016	2016 to 2017	2017 to 2018
Grant-in-aid (GIA)	391	447	403
Funding from partners	75	104	76
Local levy	16	23	28

3.2 Significant schemes completed

Government has set a target to better protect 300,000 homes from the risk of flooding and coastal erosion between April 2015 and March 2021.

Between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018, the Environment Agency worked with other RMAs to complete 184 FCERM schemes. The majority of these schemes (92) were built to better protect people and homes from the risk of flooding from rivers. The rest better protected people and homes from:

flooding from the sea (31)
flooding from surface water (45)
coastal erosion (15)
flooding from groundwater (1)

In total, these schemes helped better protect:

44,372 homes from flooding - 6,187 of these are in areas of significant flood risk and economic deprivation
1,492 homes from coastal erosion - 92 of these are in areas of significant flood risk and economic deprivation

Table 7: examples of significant schemes better protecting homes between 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018

Scheme name (significant)	RFCC	Cost of scheme (£)	Number of homes better protected between 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018
Sheerness Beach Recycling	Southern	307,292	3,000
Dawlish Warren	South West	12 million	2,881
Hull River Defences, Yorkshire	Yorkshire	36 million	1,163

Please note that the total cost of a scheme in table 8 is for all funding sources and for all years. This includes all prior and future years funding, as some of these schemes will better protect more homes in future years.

As well as better protecting people and homes, our FCERM schemes can have additional benefits. Our schemes can help to better protect businesses, infrastructure and agricultural land.

Table 8 and graph: other benefits of FCERM schemes from 2011 to 2018

Location of flood	Date	Number of properties flooded	Number of properties protected
Coverack, Cornwall	14 July 2017	50	0
Scarborough, Yorkshire	22 to 24 August 2017	60	0
Millom, Cumbria	30 September 2017	200	0
Storm Brian, nationwide	End of October 2017	49	240
Galgate, Lancashire	23 November 2017	225	6312

3.3 Maintaining flood risk assets

Between 2015 and 2020 the Environment Agency is investing over £1 billion in maintaining flood risk management assets. This is an increase compared with the £812 million invested in the previous 5 years. Between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018, the Environment Agency invested over £200 million.

The investment includes developing technology and maintenance activities, such as:

inspecting, maintaining and operating assets
channel maintenance

Around 155,000 assets are linked to flood risk management systems in England. Their main purpose is to reduce flood risk. The Environment Agency maintains 51,000 of these assets, including:

7,000km of defences on main rivers
3,500km of tidal defences
1,000km of coastal defences
17,000 structures
1,500km of culverts

Third parties, such as LLFAs, IDBs and private owners, maintain 104,000 flood risk assets.

The Environment Agency routinely inspects the assets they are responsible for to check the condition and whether they will perform as intended. At 31 March 2018, 97.7% of Environment Agency maintained flood risk assets in high consequence flood risk management systems were in the required condition. Assets that are below the required condition need additional maintenance work. It does not mean they have structurally failed or that performance in a flood is compromised. If an assets performance is reduced, we will take action to effectively manage flood risk until it is fully repaired or replaced.

The Environment Agency prioritises work so that it reduces flood risk for people, homes and businesses. We focus our resources where they’re most needed. See the River and coastal maintenance programme.

3.4 Efficiency savings

The Environment Agency makes efficiency savings to achieve the best possible value for the investment of public funds. This is a requirement of HM Treasury. Opportunities to improve efficiencies come from:

national initiatives that allow operational improvements
local project specific activities

Savings are achieved through:

innovation
value engineering
longer-term planning and packaging of work

Table 9: efficiencies achieved between 2015 and 2018

	2015/16	2016/17	2017/18
Efficiency savings (£ million)	50	40	45

Question 4

4.  Reducing risk and minimising consequences

Accepted Answer

Flooding and coastal erosion cannot be totally eliminated but we can reduce the risk. This takes a variety of approaches and collaborative working with other RMAs and organisations.

4.1 Preventing development in areas at risk of flooding

The best option is to prevent development in areas at risk of flooding, but this is not always possible. About 10% of England has a high flood risk, including large parts of central London, Hull and Portsmouth.

The Environment Agency comments on development proposals:

in areas that are at medium or high risk of flooding from rivers and the sea
in areas with critical drainage problems
within 20 metres of a main river

Developments should be located to areas with a low risk of flooding. Where this is not possible the development must show it will:

be safe throughout the lifetime of the development, including any future risk from climate change
be appropriately flood resistant and resilient
not increase risk elsewhere

Between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018:

less than 9% of new homes were built in high flood risk areas
over 95.3% of all planning decisions were in line with Environment Agency advice
over 99% of new homes proposed in planning applications complied with Environment Agency advice

These results are comparable to previous years. The Environment Agency records a sample of the decision notices that are made available via local planning authority web pages. We also publish a comprehensive list of all applications where we’ve lodged objections on flood risk grounds. Many of the issues will have been resolved before a final decision was made.

Table 10: planning applications reviewed by the Environment Agency and determined in line with its advice

Environment Agency	1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018
Planning applications responded to	7,868
Number planning decisions made that related to flood risk objections	1,593
Number of planning decisions made in line with the Environment Agency’s advice	1,518
% of planning applications determined in line with the Environment Agency’s advice	95.3%
% of residential properties in planning applications in line with our advice	99%

4.2 National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)

The Environment Agency, Defra and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) worked together on the public consultation for changes to the NPPF. The Environment Agency proposed some changes to the NPPF. These included:

local planning authorities must consider the extent of future flooding in their strategic development plans
proposed developments in a low flood risk area that will be at greater flood risk in the future must have a flood risk assessment
developments that benefit from flood risk management schemes must also have flood risk mitigation and resilience measures
sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) must provide benefits for biodiversity, water quality and amenity
details of how SuDS will be adopted and maintained for the lifetime of developments are required

SuDS replicate natural drainage processes. They transport surface water and slow down runoff before it enters watercourses and drainage systems. They also provide wider water quality, biodiversity and wellbeing benefits.

MHCLG published the revised NPPF in July 2018.

4.3 Sewers for adoption

Water UK is developing standards for water and sewerage companies to adopt SuDS. The Environment Agency and Defra have worked with Water UK to:

assess if there are barriers to effective SuDS adoption by water companies
how these barriers can be overcome

Water UK expects to publish the 8th edition of Sewers for Adoption in 2019.

The new standards:

set design principles for SuDS
allow water companies to adopt SuDS

4.4 Water and sewerage companies

Between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018, water companies invested:

£92 million to reduce the risk of sewer flooding to homes
£111 million to maintain the public sewer system to prevent blockages and flooding
£4.5 million in property-level measures to reduce the risk of sewer flooding in homes

To help reduce the risk of flooding some water companies, for example United Utilities and Yorkshire Water, have piloted the use of their reservoirs for flood storage. This is only possible in certain circumstances and is managed through operational agreements.

In 2017 Water UK’s 21st Century Drainage Programme published the:

Capacity Assessment Framework
Storm Overflow Benefits Evaluation Framework

These frameworks assess the capacity of sewer networks to cope with the threat of flooding and pollution from future rainfall and growth. The Environment Agency and Water UK funded this work.

4.5 Natural flood management (NFM)

NFM protects, restores or copies the natural function of floodplains, upland catchments and the coast. NFM can reduce flood and coastal erosion risk, and offer other benefits such as:

creating important wildlife habitat
improving the local environment
creating recreation opportunities

4.5.1 NFM Programme

In July 2017, government announced £15 million of funding for 60 projects in the NFM Programme.

The projects will:

reduce flood and/or coastal erosion risk
improve habitats and increase biodiversity
contribute to research and development and reduce the evidence gap for NFM
promote partnership working

The NFM Programme started in 2017 and will continue until 2021. No projects were completed during 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018. The Environment Agency will track the programme to understand the flood risk and environmental benefits. See the research and development section for:

new research to improve our understanding of NFM
the evidence base for working with natural processes to reduce flood risk

4.6 Improving the environment

RMAs look for opportunities to create and improve habitat as part of their flood risk management work. They often form partnerships with groups such as wildlife and rivers trusts.

The Environment Agency has a legal obligation to compensate where it damages habitats - see the coastal habitats section. For example, the Environment Agency will create a habitat in a new location where building a flood or coastal risk management scheme damages an existing habitat.

The environmental improvements completed by RMAs from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018 include:

enhancing 111km of waterbodies
enhancing 248 hectares of habitat
creating 556 hectares of habitat

Examples of these improvements include:

changing a weir in Leeds to reduce flood risk and making it easier for fish to migrate upstream
working with local partners to restore upland peat habitats on Exmoor to help store water
creating stronger flood risk management assets on the coast, but setting them back to create intertidal habitat in Hesketh, Lancashire

4.7 Local flood risk management (FRM) strategies

Under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 all 152 LLFAs must have a local FRM strategy. They must develop, maintain and track progress against their local strategies.

Local flood risk includes flooding from surface water, groundwater and ordinary watercourses.

By March 2018:

149 LLFAs (98%) had published their local FRM strategies, compared with 134 (88%) in March 2017
3 LLFAs had completed a public consultation

All of the 3 remaining LLFAs have published their strategies since March 2018.

4.8 Reservoir safety

The Environment Agency is responsible for regulating large raised reservoirs in England. This is a requirement of the Reservoirs Act 1975. We regulate:

1,849 third-party-owned large raised reservoirs
213 large raised reservoirs that we operate mainly for flood risk management purposes

The Reservoirs Act aims to ensure that dams and reservoirs are safe.

The Flood and Water Management Act 2010 amended the Reservoirs Act in 2013. The amendment requires the Environment Agency to designate large raised reservoirs as ‘high risk’ if we think that an uncontrolled release of water from the reservoir would endanger human life.

Only ‘high-risk’ reservoirs have to meet the full requirements of the Reservoirs Act. The Environment Agency has nearly completed designating large raised reservoirs. We expect around 12% of large raised reservoirs to be designated as ‘not high-risk’.

Between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018, there were 7 reports of dams or reservoirs in England at potential risk of failure. The average number of incidents reported per year is 7. The Environment Agency published its Reservoir safety biennial report: 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2018 in April 2019.

4.9 Asset registers

Under the Flood and Water Management Act, each LLFA must establish and maintain a register of flood risk assets and make it available to the public.

By March 2018:

108 LLFAs had made their asset registers publicly available
43 LLFAs had work in progress on their registers
1 LLFA had yet to start work on its register, although they are engaging actively with the Environment Agency on this

In March 2018 the Environment Agency published its Asset management data and information on data.gov.uk. The data includes details of its assets and maintenance plans. LLFAs can access this new portal to get a wider overview of assets in their area of interest.

4.10 Public Sector Cooperation Agreements (PSCAs)

RMAs can work in partnership to provide flood risk maintenance and other activities. One example of partnership working is the PSCAs. The benefits of close partnership working are now well established and the efficiencies generated show this.

The Environment Agency use PSCAs for a wide variety of work including:

routine maintenance
small improvement works
incident response

Since the PSCAs started in 2013 we have used them for approximately £8 million of work. We will continue to increase the number of PSCAs and their use where appropriate.

Table 11: summary of national PSCAs at 31 March 2018

	Internal drainage board	Lead local flood authority	Navigation authority	Total
PSCAs in place	60	12	1	73
PSCAs in principle	7	11	0	18

4.11 Skills and capacity in lead local flood authorities

In 2017, the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) sponsored a survey to help provide an updated picture of skills and capacity across its membership base. The survey focused on whether LLFAs:

had certain skills and capacity in house
had capacity to provide advice and guidance to others
were able to provide a service to other LLFAs

The results suggested that a low level of in-house skills was not necessarily an issue because many LLFAs use contractors. In general, the strongest skills among LLFAs were in:

highway and micro-drainage
site specific flood risk assessments
planning application advice and consenting

The skills required to undertake responsibilities defined in the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 were generally strong in LLFAs. The weakest capabilities highlighted through this survey included:

asset inspection
permeability plans
monitoring surveys
flow monitoring

Following the survey, RFCCs encouraged members to do more to understand and address skills and capacity issues in their area. In particular, to share best practice with each other on approaches and explore opportunities to improve skills and capacity. There are now over 60 co-funded officers supporting LLFAs and other RMAs to provide a range of FCERM activities. Local levy and partner organisation contributions fund these posts. Some LLFAs and other RMAs are flexible with resources and expertise. In some areas, there’s a single team which looks after a wider geographical area.

The Environment Agency is prioritising resources to:

improve the skills of staff working in the Environment Agency so they can better support RMAs
develop training material and guidance for RMAs to showcase best practice
assist LLFA staff with work, such as project management, by sharing expertise
review the independent assurance threshold for RMA surface water management schemes

4.12 Progress on implementing the Flood Risk Regulations 2009 and flood risk management plans (FRMPs)

FRMPs, first published in March 2016, set out how RMAs will work together and with communities to manage and reduce risk. They cover all sources of flooding over a 5 year period and look forward up to 100 years. This means that some of the measures in table 12 may not begin until later in the period or may be superseded or replaced over time.

One of the actions followed the extensive flooding in mid-Nottinghamshire in 2013. The action developed an approach on how to work with natural processes and analysed how this can improve flood risk and benefit the environment. It was completed in 2018 and was successful in initiating funding to complete a comprehensive NFM scheme.

Table 12: progress made towards implementing the FRMP measures for the period 2015 to 2021 on 31 March 2018

Progress	Number of measures
On-going	3270
Complete	636
Superseded	454
Not started	1573

Question 5

5.  Research and development

Accepted Answer

Defra, the Environment Agency, Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales run the Joint Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Research and Development Programme. The programme is divided into 3 themes. These are:

Policy, Strategy and Investment
Asset Management
Incident Management and Modelling

The programme provides research, information, tools and techniques. It ensures we use high quality science to inform policy and practice. The Environment Agency is currently working on over 80 partnership projects which have a value of over £10 million per year.

5.1 Natural flood management (NFM) research

In October 2017, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) awarded 3 projects a total of £3.4 million NFM research funding. The projects are

on the Upper Thames (Reading University)
in Cumbria (Lancaster University)
in the Peak District (Manchester University)

The research will improve our understanding of how effective different NFM measures are in a range of flood risk scenarios.

In October 2017, the Environment Agency published the Evidence base for working with natural processes to reduce flood risk. It brings existing research and guidance together and will make it easier to consider appropriate NFM options to manage flood risk.

5.2 Innovative approaches to asset management

The Environment Agency is investigating how to use light detection and ranging (LIDAR) data to better understand:

asset vulnerability
pinpoint weak spots

LIDAR uses a laser to scan and map the landscape to collect very dense and accurate elevation data. These investigations highlight where discontinuities increase the risk of failure in flood risk management assets. This enables us to better target our efforts.

Discontinuities include where:

different defences join, for example where there is a change from a wall to an embankment
conditions underlying flood risk management assets change due to historical features

The Environment Agency worked with British Geological Survey on their Proactive Infrastructure Monitoring and Evaluation (PRIME) project. PRIME is part of the NERC Environmental Risks to Infrastructure Innovation Programme. This project looks at developing sensor technology to detect water movement through embankments.

5.3 Published research and guidance

A full list of completed research published between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018 is available on the Joint Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Research and Development Programme website.

Question 6

6.  Looking forward

Accepted Answer

All authorities involved in FCERM are continually working together to better protect communities from flooding and help them to be more resilient. Below are important areas of work that are ongoing but not yet complete.

6.1 National FCERM Strategy

On 9 May 2019 the Environment Agency launched the public consultation of the Draft National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy for England. The Environment Agency has developed the draft strategy with organisations and people with an interest in managing flood risk and coastal change. The strategy sets out proposals for ensuring the nation is resilient to flooding and coastal change up to 2100 accounting for climate change.

The ambitions of the strategy are to:

create climate resilient places
ensure today’s growth and infrastructure is resilient in tomorrow’s climate
create a nation of climate champions

The strategy consultation closed on 4 July 2019 and the Environment Agency will publish the final strategy in 2020.

6.2 Reviewing river maintenance and management

Involving local communities and organisations in decision making and managing watercourses is important. The Environment Agency proposes to transfer flood risk management activities on some stretches of watercourses to IDBs and LLFAs. This means that IDBs and LLFAs can take on more responsibility for their local flood risk where appropriate.

The Environment Agency has worked with some IDBs and LLFAs to consider proposals to re-designate some sections of watercourses. Their designation will change from main river to ordinary watercourse. This is known as de-maining.

We have completed the public consultations for all de-maining pilot locations. One location at South Forty Foot in South Lincolnshire has been de-mained. The Environment Agency has reviewed the consultation feedback and progressing de-maining where appropriate.

6.3 Surface water management action plan

The surface water management action plan sets out the actions that government and others are taking to manage the risk from surface water flooding. More details about the plan will be included in the report for the period 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019.

Year from 1 April to 31 March	Agricultural land (ha)	Commercial properties	Roads (km)	Rail (km)
2011 to 2012	74,011	5,572	1,800	107
2012 to 2013	75,645	5,874	1,774	75
2013 to 2014	84,106	5,487	2,247	54
2014 to 2015	100,580	11,282	2,340	122
2015 to 2016	74,644	11,500	1,854	150
2016 to 2017	30,442	7,041	1,090	51
2017 to 2018	32,838	7,595	1,176	55

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1. Flood risk