The image of Carlisle BT car park and its service vans underwater from many years ago, and the lessons of 2007 and the Pitt Review seem still not to have got through. How can it be that there are still 530 critical infrastructure sites still at serious risk? Damned by faint praise reviewers cut to the heart of the NRR reports weaknesses. See the Parliamentary briefing from earlier in the summer (below).

Guardian article on responses to the NRR The UK’s new flood defence plans anticipate significantly higher extreme rainfall, after new research was published as part of the government’s National Flood Resilience review.

The government, which had been criticised for not taking full account of the impact of climate change in driving up flood risk, will now plan for 20-30% more extreme downpours than before.

The review, prompted by severe flooding in recent winters, also found that 530 critical infrastructure sites, such as water and telecoms, are at serious risk from floods, each potentially affecting at least 10,000 people. Utility companies have pledged to have new protection in place by the end of the year. The government’s official climate change advisers recently warned that flooding could cause a cascade of emergencies by knocking out energy, transport, water and communications links.

The review allocates £12.5m for more temporary defences, such as barriers and pumps, at strategic locations around the country. By this winter, the government said, four times more temporary barriers will be available. “Last winter we saw just how devastating flooding can be”.

This review sets out clear actions so we are better prepared to respond quickly in the event of future flooding and can strengthen the nation’s flood defences,” said the environment secretary, Andrea Leadsom. Ben Gummer, Cabinet Office minister, said: “The government has made clear that we expect water and telecoms companies to work ever closer together to improve their preparation and response to flooding, making sure lifelines such as mobile phone masts and water treatment works continue to function.”

Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said: “This review was launched because the government was caught out by [recent] flooding. It deserves credit for admitting that ministers have previously misunderstood and significantly underestimated the probability of flooding. “However, it is disappointing that the government chose to ignore surface water flooding during the review, even though it poses a threat to more properties in the UK than does coastal and river flooding,” he said.

Lord Deben, chairman of the Committee on Climate Change, the government’s official advisers, welcomed the review but said it fell short of what was needed: “As well as implementing short-term measures, such as better protecting key sites, we need a new and comprehensive, long-term strategy to address flood risk in this country.”

Friends of the Earth campaigner Guy Shrubsole said: “This review suggests a sea-change in government understanding of floods, but its recommendations are a wash-out. £12.5m for temporary flood defences is a drop in the ocean when the review concludes that winter rainfall could increase by up to 30% in future in parts of the UK, [which] will put thousands more homes and businesses at risk.”

Paul Cobbing, chief executive of the National Flood Forum, which represents flood communities, welcomed the review but said its narrow scope did not tackle the community-level work required. He said preventing every flood is impossible and adapting homes to cope is vital: “It is really important to engage with people about the residual risk in the right way, so that they own that risk. There are elements of government that understand this and there are other elements that clearly don’t.” Click here to read more of this article.

Adapting Urban Areas to Flooding – Parliamentary Briefing

Parliamentary POSTnotes are based on literature reviews and interviews with a range of stakeholders and are externally peer reviewed. This report had an impressive array of expert input. [17^th June 2016]

Most properties, businesses and related infrastructure at risk of flooding are in urban areas, where more than 80% of the UK population live. This note summarises how urban areas can be better managed to adapt to flood risk from rivers, surface water, sewers and ground water.

Jump to full report >>

Key points in this POSTnote include:

• Extreme rainfall events are predicted to become more frequent and severe in the future as the climate changes.
• Existing urban defences and drainage infrastructure cannot cope with increasingly extreme events, but urban areas can be adapted to reduce vulnerabilities to flooding.
• There is no single solution to manage urban flood risks: a portfolio of solutions will be needed that include traditional flood defences but also flood resilience measures.
• Urban drainage systems that mimic a natural landscape can reduce surface flooding and provide other benefits      

Click here to download the briefing