Guidance

Use nature-based solutions to reduce flooding in your area

Find out how you can use natural options to reduce flooding in your area, who to contact for advice, and if you can get funding.

Applies to England

Using natural options to slow the flow of water through the landscape:

  • gives communities affected by flooding more time to prepare
  • reduces peak water levels of rivers and streams

These are known as nature-based solutions to reduce flooding.

Anyone can put these solutions into practice. You may need to get permission to carry out works, depending on the location and type of solution you use.

Examples of nature-based solutions

To reduce flooding in your area, you could:

  • plant trees and hedges to increase water absorption, catch rainfall and slow down surface water run-off
  • improve soil cover with plants to reduce water pollution and run- off
  • divert high water flows and create areas to store water
  • create leaky barriers to slow water flow in streams and ditches
  • restore salt marshes, mudflats and peat bogs

These can be effective on their own, or used alongside engineered solutions such as flood barriers, as part of a whole catchment approach to reduce the risk for communities that flood regularly.

For more ideas, look at England’s Flood and Coastal Erosion risk management strategy that identifies nature-based solutions as an important part of managing flood resilience.

Benefits of nature-based solutions

Nature-based solutions:

  • help communities become more resilient to the effects of climate change, including flooding
  • are effective for low level flooding in smaller catchments that flood regularly
  • slow the flow of rainwater through the landscape into streams and rivers
  • reduce flooding from tidal waters on the coast

There are other benefits to using nature-based solutions in addition to reducing flooding. For example, they can:

  • increase the variety of wildlife in rivers and streams by restoring natural habitats
  • improve water quality in rivers and streams by reducing soil erosion
  • store carbon to help reduce global warming

Who to contact to get started

Not all solutions are appropriate for all areas. To understand what will be effective in your area, you should discuss ideas with the relevant authority. You can also find out if you need permission to carry out your proposal.

Relevant authorities are listed on the Local Government Association website.

Contact the natural flood management team or the Environment Agency to get support in your local area and discuss plans for reducing your flood risk.

Your lead local flood authority will be able to provide you with more information on how to manage flooding in your area. You’ll need to search for your location on the long term flood risk service to find out which is your lead authority.

If you’re a local authority or flood risk management authority contact the Environment Agency for more information on how you can consider nature-based solutions as part of the solution for capital and maintenance work to reduce flood risk.

More informal advice may be available from:

Research and evidence resources

Find out more about different solutions in the working with natural processes evidence directory.

How to get involved with flood projects

To get involved, you could:

To find out if there are flood projects in your area:

Find out what the Environment Agency is doing to reduce the risk of flooding.

Get permission for works

You will need permission from the owner of the land where you do any work.

To work in any stream or ditch, you are likely to need permission from your lead local flood authority. You’ll need to search for your location on the long term flood risk service to find out which is your lead authority.

You should also check if you need:

Manage your nature-based solution

You must follow the conditions of any licence or consent you have for your nature-based solution.

You should monitor the work you’ve carried out and maintain any structures you’ve built, to avoid deterioration or damage to property.

Find out more about how to minimise any legal, financial and reputational risks from your nature-based solution on the Catchment Based Approach website.

Apply for funding

You may be able to apply for funding to carry out flood reduction work.

Funding for flood risk management authorities

As a flood risk management authority, you can apply for grant in aid for flood and coastal erosion risk management.

Funding for landowners

As a landowner, you can also apply for:

You can get free training, advice and support for grant applications to reduce water and air pollution from agriculture through the Catchment Sensitive Farming partnership.

Find out how you could get paid by getting involved in an environmental land management scheme. You can subscribe to alerts to stay up to date with the schemes and more news from Defra.

Other sources of funding

Sources of funding may include:

  • charities and local conservation organisations
  • support from local businesses
  • local authorities

Updates to this page

Published 25 June 2021

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