The government has just announced “funding for using nature to increase flood resilience”:
Forty projects which will use natural processes such as planting trees and creating wetlands to reduce the risk of flooding are set to benefit from a £25 million government programme… Part of the government’s plan to increase the nation’s flood resilience, natural flood management processes protect, restore, and mimic the natural functions of catchments, floodplains and the coast to slow and store water.
It also supports the Government Policy Statement on Flood and Coastal Erosion Management, which highlights the importance of harnessing the power of nature, and the Environmental Improvement Plan, which recognises the need to mitigate and adapt to climate change with the use of nature-based solutions. Investing in natural flood management will support the government’s plan to better protect communities while tackling climate change and benefitting nature.
40 projects to benefit from £25 million funding for natural flood management – GOV.UK
The construction industry is clearly open to such ‘natural solutions’:
40 projects to benefit from £25M natural flood management fund | New Civil Engineer
Out of the forty successful applicants, two are in East Devon:
The Environment Agency’s Climate Resilient Otter Catchment (CROC) scheme has been handed £1,184,800. The initiative involves eight projects around the River Otter with a focus on land and soil management, as well as local farming practices.
Sidbury Manor Estate’s River Sid catchment scheme has been given £240,000. It involves four projects including targeted tree planting to slow surface water and river restoration.
East Devon schemes to reduce flash-flood risk get £1.4m boost
Congratulations, Sidbury Manor Estate. The scheme on their land should greatly contribute to the wider River Sid Catchment Scheme, much of which is indeed about slowing the flow – as covered on these pages last week:
River Sid Catchment: slowing the run-off and slowing the flow – The Sid
It is indeed all about looking at the whole picture:
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