Natural Flood Management is a partnership project with Worcestershire County Council , funded by the Regional Flood and Coastal Committee until 2027. It covers the River Isbourne tributaries and watercourses leading off Bredon Hill in Gloucestershire. The original pilot followed funding from 2016 – 2019, investigating the use of Natural Flood Management (NFM) in the county as a viable option for slowing the flow of water to help stop communities from flooding.
The project allows us, as facilitators, to work with farmers located in key areas at the head of the catchment who can help to reduce flows further downstream. Once areas are located, we aim to put in natural flood management features such as leaky dams, bunds, trees or hedge planting, swales and in some cases, land use change. The range of features helps to interrupt flow, infiltrate or soak up water which helps to reduce the impact on rivers further down stream.
Climate change is becoming a big contributor to flooding in the UK, By installing as many types of natural flood features in the landscape we can reduce the flow of water heading down stream at any given time. These features are often leaky dams, attenuation bunds , tree planting and hedge planting.
We are seeking land owners with a direct link to the River Isbourne, Carrant, Mary or Merry Brook to help those settlements on the water courses from flooding.
Project lead/contact is Joanne Leigh – email: joanne.leigh@fwagsw.org
Worcestershire County Council contact is Wendy Bufton
