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Good practice guidance

Flooding

Planning for flooding events in advance is the best way to mitigate risk and impacts of floods. Communities can maximize their preparation by:

  • community engagement and land-use planning to ensure that future development is located in areas of low vulnerability or that flooding is adequately mitigated for
  • Local policy should be required to incorporate flood protection in development plans
  • construction of defences that control water flow- flood barriers and levees
  • improved drainage systems to ensure that water is collected and transported efficiently

Every individual can also play a role in preventing flooding. Here are some precautions that you can take to help mitigate flood risk:

Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS)

Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) are environmentally friendly water drainage techniques designed to help manage and control surface water runoff. They are a legal requirement for major developments,.

Some examples of SuDS that can be implanted are as follows:

  • permeable paving- a plastic grid system that can be filled with soil or gravel, allowing water to infiltrate the pores
  • water butts- containers which catch and store water runoff from a property’s roof
  • rain planters- planters that rainwater can be diverted downpipe to from a roof
  • green roofs- the growing of vegetation on roofing absorbs rainwater and reduces runoff all while providing the benefit of increased insulation
  • ponds- garden ponds collect and store excess rainwater, encouraging wildlife at the same time

The implantation of SuDS aims to achieve the following:

  • the mimicking of natural water management processes rather than diverting immediately into traditional drainage systems
  • prevention of flooding through controlled release of water
  • filter pollutants and sediments from water runoff before it enters watercourses
  • protection of biodiversity through habitat creation and conservation

Riparian buffers/management

Riparian buffers are natural vegetative areas which act as a transition zone between aquatic and land habitats. They mitigate the negative impacts of damaging natural and human effects on watercourses. They provide this by:

  • acting as natural filtration and flood prevention systems, as well as reducing erosion due to the presence of soil and roots
  • removing pollutants including nutrients, sediments and pesticides, as the dense vegetation slows water flow and allows the pollutants to settle. Soil and plant roots also absorb dissolved contaminants
  • serving as wildlife corridors and habitats for wildlife

Although riparian buffers mitigate human damage, they have been fragmented and degraded by pressures such as deforestation, agriculture and urban development. It is therefore important to adopt management practices in order to restore and protect them:

  • control and removal of invasive species
  • removal of litter and debris
  • replanting native vegetation
  • erosion control measures such as streambank stabilization
  • site assessment and monitoring
  • establishment of new buffers with sufficient width and composition

Development Management

During community development, it is crucial that measures are taken to protect and maintain watercourses. The following mandatory measures must be followed:

  • Where relevant planning  authorities must adequately assess impacts to protected watercourses from proposed development which may adversely affect on water quality
  • Where a watercourse is within 10m of a development that is subject to statutory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) legislation, it is a legal requirement that 10% net gain is delivered via watercourse units
  • developers are obligated to protect external waterbodies under the Water Framework Directive (WFD)
  • the WFD Water Environment Regulations (2017) state mandatory requirements for non-deterioration of water bodies

Individuals can all play a part in development management. Where there is development work around a watercourse, the following measures should be installed to mitigate adverse impacts to watercourses:

  • Where neccessay riperian buffers must be created or maintained
  • Prepare and follow a Construction Environmental Plan (CEMP)
  • Store potential pollutants away from watercourses developments and follow standard procedures in the case of contamination
  • Implementation of SuDS where appropriate

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