45 sponsoring organisations through government Grant-in-Aid ( GiA ).
The types of scheme include :
• Flood and erosion protection
• Replacement flood defences
• Natural flood management
• Major flood gates
• Pumping station refurbishments
• Reservoir protection
• Individual property flood resilience measures
More extreme weather events caused by the climate emergency are being increasingly felt , and flooding will become more likely everywhere . River level records will be broken time and again and more intense rainfall will cause severe surface water flooding .
Elsewhere , the Environment Agency is carrying out inspections and maintenance to flood defences along the River Severn following the February storms when the defences were in operation providing benefit to thousands of homes and businesses .
Storms Dudley , Eunice and Franklin hit the UK in February , seeing the Met Office issue 2 rare red warnings for Eunice which was the most severe and damaging storm to affect England and Wales for many years .
A forecast tidal surge on the Severn Estuary threatened flooding to thousands . This was followed by heavy rainfall in the Welsh Mountains which saw the River Severn rise to extremely high levels in its upper reaches resulting in flooding of some properties in the area .
Rhys McCarthy , Flood Risk Manager for the Environment Agency said : “ February brought 3 named storms in succession which posed a significant risk of flooding to communities along the River Severn . We were however prepared , with thousands of properties benefiting from the protection that
our defences provided . These defences included flood walls and embankments , flood storage areas , temporary barriers , property flood resilience measures , pumps and flood gates .
“ We are now inspecting all of our flood defences to work out where any essential repair works are needed to make sure they are all in good working order and fully operational , ready to use again . This work includes removing any blockages in rivers and culverts , clearing debris from trash screens and checking the operation of sluices . Demountable and temporary defences and pumps have already been cleaned and checked for damage .”
The Environment Agency issued 12 severe flood warnings and a total of 118 flood alerts and warnings during the storms and deployed all of its flood assets along the Rivers Severn and Wye , including temporary and demountable barriers at Shrewsbury , Ironbridge , Hereford and Bewdley .
Flooding can have a devastating impact , which is why protecting people and communities is the Environment Agency ’ s top priority . It is clear that we are already seeing the impacts of climate change in the UK and around the world , which is why urgent action is needed to adapt the impacts of climate emergency at the same time as reducing emissions .
Community teams from the Environment Agency , Worcestershire County Council , Shropshire Council , the National Flood Forum , Severn Trent Water and district councils have also been out speaking to communities throughout Worcestershire and Shropshire .
Elsewhere , the first phase of a £ 46 million flood defence scheme in Rochdale and Littleborough is underway following permission from Rochdale Borough Council ’ s Planning Department .
Led by the Environment Agency in partnership with Rochdale Council , the new scheme features a range of measures to reduce the risk of flooding across Rochdale and Littleborough including a new flood storage area at Gale , as well as raised walls and improvements to culverts and bridges in areas
www . constructionviewonline . co . uk