Tag: Environment Agency

The press release issued by the Environment Agency on 9 December 2022.

Sir James Bevan outlined his vision for natural flood management as the Environment Agency published a new report on the £15 million NFM programme.

Following a report published by the Environment Agency, he outlined his vision for natural flood management to be seen shoulder to shoulder with its programme of crucial bricks and mortar hard defences.

The report evaluates the impact of the national Natural Flood Management Programme which received £15 million of government funding, including benefits to communities and to biodiversity alongside protecting homes and businesses from floods.

Across 60 pilot projects the programme created an equivalent of 1.6 million cubic metres of water storage and increased flood resilience to 15,000 homes. In addition, the programme contributed to nature recovery: improving 4,000 hectares of habitat, improving 610 kilometres of river and planting 100 hectares of woodland.

Sir James Bevan said:

The warning signs of the climate crisis are stark – and sadly devastating flooding is likely to become a more familiar sight over the next century.

As we prepare for more extreme weather events, we must use every weapon in our armoury and Natural Flood Management will play an essential role in this.

By harnessing the power of nature alongside our traditional flood defences, we can not only help keep communities safer, but also create wildlife havens and tackle the climate emergency.

This week, governments from around the world are coming together for COP 15 to agree on how to halt and reverse nature loss.

We are facing a biodiversity crisis and a climate crisis that places considerable stress on nature and wildlife. Natural flood management is a key way to address these challenges, by improving resilience to flooding, enhancing biodiversity, storing carbon and helping regulate the local climate.

Natural flood management helps to slow the flow of water across the landscape – including the re-meandering of rivers, the restoration of wetlands and targeted woodland planting.

NFM measures include planting trees and hedges to absorb more water, creating leaky barriers to slow water flow in streams and ditches and restoring salt marshes, mudflats, and peat bogs.

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said:

We know that flooding can have a devastating impact on people’s lives, homes and livelihoods. That is why we are investing a record £5.2 billion in flood and coastal defences to ensure more communities are better prepared – and nature-based solutions are a key component of this.

The additional benefits of Natural Flood Management for people and wildlife are vast – helping us reach our ambitious Net Zero targets, providing vital new habitats and creating areas of natural beauty for people to enjoy for generations to come.

The £15 million NFM programme involved 85 partners – including Rivers Trusts, Wildlife Trusts, local authorities, Natural England, the Forestry Commission, landowners, universities and local businesses. It was completed this year and has achieved some great successes.

In Cumbria, an NFM project trailed a variety of measures across different landscapes aiming to slow or store 10,000 cubic metres of water per square kilometre. The team worked with a range of landowners and the Forestry Commission to change overland flow routes, build earth dams and leaky barriers, plant 8,000 trees and create offline flood storage ponds.

Meanwhile, the community-led Shipston Area Flood Action Group (SAFAG) used NFM measures across the River Stour in Warwickshire to create 700 leaky barriers and ponds to slow the flow of water during heavy rainfall, reducing the flood risk to people and businesses in 17 villages and towns.

In London a partnership between South East Rivers Trust (SERT) and the London Borough of Sutton is working to install Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) in six Sutton schools. The project will disconnect nearly 4.3 hectares of hard surfaces (such as roads, paths, roofs) from the drainage network flowing into the River Wandle which is helping to reduce surface water flooding and reduce pollution.

Thanks to £50,000 funding through the NFM programme, the project will provide biodiversity benefits as well as opportunities for outdoor education. It has also helped to unlock a further £40,000 of partnership funding.

Mark Lloyd, CEO of Rivers Trusts, said:

Rivers Trusts were delighted to work in partnership with others to deliver many of the pilot projects referred to in this excellent report, which we welcome.  It is clear that natural flood management has a really important role to play in protecting communities from the misery of flooding, while at the same time making a contribution to nature recovery, pollution prevention, soil protection, drought resilience, amenity value and carbon sequestration.

Our country faces several major environmental threats and we cannot solve them one at a time.  Managing landscapes to store more water provides multiple benefits to society, and can therefore attract multiple sources of funding.  This pilot programme needs to become business as usual urgently and we need to break down the barriers to delivery at scale.

Sarah Fowler, Chief Executive of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, said:

Wetlands help us mitigate and adapt to the consequences of climate change, which is why WWT is calling for the restoration and creation of 100,00ha of wetlands in the UK. WWT is delighted to have played a part in the government’s £15 million investment to pilot natural flood risk management.

This report demonstrates the power of nature, and wetlands in particular, to tackle flooding.  I look forward to WWT working with the Environment Agency, using our expertise in wetland science and wetland delivery, to build natural flood management solutions at scale to manage current and future flood risk. But we need to see a significant increase investment in NFM to meet the scale of the opportunity.

Through the natural flood management programme, we have learnt about how to deliver natural flood management projects with communities, landowners and environmental charities.

The report also recognised the importance of long-term monitoring and evaluation of natural flood management, and the need to sustain it long-term, through plans for local nature recovery and new approaches to environmental land management.

We are using this learning to help us to do more and better natural flood management projects in the future as part of our commitment to deliver the ambitions of the national Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy. The Government has a target of doubling the number of natural flood management projects over the next five years.

The press release issued by the Environment Agency on 7 November 2022.

Communities are being urged to prepare for flooding this winter with the Environment Agency warning of “ignoring the danger at your own peril”.

Amid increased extreme weather events brought on by the climate emergency, the Environment Agency is launching an awareness campaign – Flood Action Week – to encourage those who live in areas at risk of flooding to act now to protect their home, possessions and family.

This year alone, the UK experienced its highest ever recorded temperatures, as the Met Office confirmed that England had its joint hottest summer on record with much of the country still struggling with drought.

Looking ahead to this winter, although the Met Office says the chance of wet and windy weather increases as we go through the season, unexpected flooding could occur at any time and communities are being warned not to be complacent following this summer’s dry weather.

Since 1998 we have seen six of the ten wettest years on record and this year for the first time ever saw three named storms in one week.

One of the key messages coming from COP27, which gets underway in Egypt this week, is that we must plan and prepare for increasingly extreme events.

As we have seen across the globe, the effects of climate change are becoming clearer, with wildfires raging across Europe; China experiencing its worst heatwave in decades; and devastating floods in Pakistan ripping through communities killing more than 1500 people and displacing millions.

This Flood Action Week (7 November – 13 November) the Environment Agency is urging people to take three simple steps:

• check your flood risk online
• sign up for flood warnings
• know what to do if flooding hits

Caroline Douglass, Executive Director of Flooding at the Environment Agency, said:

Climate change is happening now. We’re seeing more extreme weather – in this year alone with three named storms in a week, record-breaking temperatures and drought declared across large parts of the country.

“That is why it is vital that people take the necessary preparations as early as possible to prepare for the worst. Our recent investment programme has better protected 314,000 homes from flooding and we’re investing millions into keeping communities safe, but we can’t stop all flooding.

The message is clear – households risk ignoring the danger of flooding at their own peril. Anyone can go online to check if they are at risk, sign up for Environment Agency warnings, and, most importantly, know what you need to do if flooding hits.

Floods Minister Rebecca Pow said:

I know how devastating flooding can be – the loss of your home, the financial stress, and the destruction of irreplaceable, sentimental belongings all place unbelievable strain on those affected.

Simple steps such as checking your flood risk online and signing up for flood warnings can make all the difference in terms of preparing yourself for what may come.

We are committed to pressing ahead with our record £5.2 billion investment in flood and coastal defences between 2021 and 2027 to ensure more communities are even better prepared for future flooding events.

This year’s Flood Action Week comes as the Environment Agency has now expanded its flood warning service to reach almost 50,000 new properties at risk of flooding and hopes to exceed its target to provide new warning capability for 62,000 properties at risk of flooding by this winter. It brings the number of properties registered with the service to 1.6 million.

With over 250 mobile pumps and 5,000 trained staff across the country, the Environment Agency is ready to take action wherever it is needed this winter. The construction and repair of flood defences has also continued throughout the year as part of the record £5.2 billion government investment in flood and coastal defences.

These preparations have already helped to protect communities from flooding. During the storms earlier this year, despite some 400 properties sadly flooding, around 35,000 were protected by Environment Agency schemes.

Will Lang from the Met Office said:

Winters in the UK usually include a wide variety of weather, and this winter looks to be no exception.

Although we expect to see high pressure dominating our weather through much of the early winter, which increases the potential for cold spells, we could still see wet and windy weather at times.

The risk of unsettled weather increases as we head into 2023 with wet, windy, and mild spells a real possibility.

At least one in six people in England are at risk from flooding from rivers and the sea, with many more at risk from surface water flooding.

However nearly two in three households at risk of flooding don’t believe it will happen to them, according to analysis produced by the Environment Agency earlier this year.

And despite the research showing that almost two thirds of people (60%) have taken at least one action to prepare for flooding, as many as 1.5 million households, who are at risk, are yet to prepare.

Those at risk are encouraged to follow the advice to ‘Prepare. Act. Survive’, specifically:

• If there is an initial flood alert – prepare by packing medicines and insurance and other important documents and visit the flood warning information service
• If there is a subsequent confirmed flood warning – act by moving family, pets and belongings to safety. Turn off gas, water and electricity
• If there is a severe flood warning – survive immediate danger by following the advice of emergency services or calling 999 if needed

With just 30cm of flowing water being enough to float a car, drivers are also being warned not to attempt to drive through flood water and take extra precautions in wet weather.

Tony Rich, from The AA said:

It’s vital for drivers to be aware of the risks of driving in floodwater and during heavy rain. Roads can quickly become flooded, making your intended route impassable, so allow plenty of time for journeys. It’s also important to leave more space than normal between you and the car in front to allow for greater stopping distances.

Drivers should take extra care where roads dip, especially under bridges as these are most likely to flood first. Flood water can be deceptively deep and can easily cause damage to your vehicle’s bodywork or worse – the engine, often resulting in hefty repair bills.

Flood water can also mask other hazards in the road, such as displaced drain covers and potholes, so if in doubt turn around and find another route. Doing this may add time to your journey, but as it only takes 30cm of flowing water to float a car – it’s better to be safe than sorry.

The press release issued by the Environment Agency on 1 November 2022.

Environmental regulation is helping businesses to protect the environment and tackle the climate crisis, a new report reveals today (1 November), with more work needed to reduce serious water pollution incidents.

Some 97% of industrial sites overseen by the Environment Agency are in the top compliance bands when it comes to protecting the environment, based on a five-year moving average, helping to ensure our air, land, and water is protected from harm.

The data is revealed in the EA’s Regulating for People, Environment and Growth report (RPEG) 2021, which shows improving trends in environmental compliance.

Since 2010, there has been a 72% decrease in NOx emissions, and a 90% decrease in SOx emissions, from sites the EA regulates. There has also been a 50% decrease in emissions of greenhouse gases from sites the EA regulates during the same period.

And last year, the Environment Agency’s regulation led to the closure of 561 illegal waste sites and uncovered 445 new sites. It also ensured a nine million tonne reduction of CO2 compared to 2020 through the climate change emissions trading and energy efficiency schemes it manages.

This is alongside a record 99% of bathing waters in England meeting or exceeding the minimum quality standard last year.

The report comes as Sir James Bevan, chief executive of the Environment Agency, delivered a speech on the future of regulation to the Whitehall and Industry Group today.

Sir James said:

Do we want clean water, air that’s safe to breathe, a green country, jobs and growth? Yes – and those are some of the things you get from regulation when it’s done right.

Good regulation is essential for most of the things we all want. The report we are launching today, Regulating for People, the Environment and Growth sets out what the EA does to support those things.

But no regulatory system is perfect, including ours. Brexit is a massive opportunity to rethink how we do regulation in this country. The government has embarked on that process, and we welcome the debate.

As an example of improving the regulatory system in a post-Brexit UK, he said opportunities lie in repealing the Floods Directive and reforming Water Framework Directive.

He said:

There will be examples of laws we find we don’t really need. There will be examples where changing the law will allow us to achieve better outcomes for the environment and nature and support economic growth. And there will be some laws that it will make eminent sense to keep.

The RPEG report, comprising data from regulatory activities in 2021, also reveals:

• Fines totalling £105 million were issued by the courts as a result of over 100 environmental prosecution cases brought by the EA in 2021
• Environmental groups have received £15 million over the past five years as a result of enforcement undertakings accepted by the EA
• Last year, we saw a reduction in CO2 of 9 million tonnes compared to 2020
• Since 2010, emissions of greenhouse gases from the sites we regulate under the Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR) have decreased by 50%. Methane emissions from these sites have decreased by 51%
• Since 2017, through reviewing, changing and revoking abstraction licences, we have removed the risk of the potential abstraction of 1.7 trillion litres of water from the environment

However, the report also showed that in 2021, the environmental performance of England’s water and sewerage companies was the worst seen for years. Serious pollution incidents increased to their highest total since 2013, while monitors on storm overflows – installed at Environment Agency insistence – are highlighting that untreated sewage flows into our rivers too frequently.

Sir James has also welcomed the record £90 million fine imposed on Southern Water for widespread pollution last July; a clear signal that this is not what the EA or the public expect from companies whose job it is to treat sewage and protect the environment.

Sir James added:

Strong regulation needs strong regulators. If regulators are going to do their jobs they need the right powers, the right resources, the right laws and the right support.

Regulation doesn’t exist to protect us from ourselves. It exists to protect things we value – people, nature, our economy – that would not otherwise be protected. Let’s have no more regulation than we need, and let’s have the right kind. But when we need it, let’s make sure we have it.

The Environment Agency’s vision of promoting green growth and a sustainable future is a key strand of the EA’s five-year action plan, entitled ‘EA2025’.

The press release issued by the Environment Agency on 12 August 2022.

After the fifth consecutive month of below average rainfall and the driest spring and early summer since 1996, river flows and reservoir levels are below normal in most parts of the region.

The dry weather has been most prevalent in the Tees catchment, which recorded its driest 12 months ending July since 1976.

In the North East, the Environment Agency is working with Northumbrian Water to maintain the health of the region’s rivers, with the company’s Kielder Transfer Scheme moving around 30 megalitres of water per day from Kielder reservoir into the River Wear through its Frosterley outfall for 12 days at the end of July, the first time a Tyne-Wear transfer has been made in 16 years. The transfer started again on Thursday afternoon (11 August) due to low river levels at Chester-le-Street.

The Agency also requested Northumbrian Water make additional releases from Kielder reservoir into the River Tyne to maintain oxygen levels in the estuary to support salmon migration in the country’s top salmon river. Almost 12,000 fish were counted moving upstream during July, the highest July total on record.

They’ve worked with holders of 35 abstraction licences to issue ‘hands off flow’ conditions, which means licences holders have been told that river levels are low and as a result abstraction must stop to protect the environment.

Rachael Caldwell, Environment Agency Area Environment Manager in the North East, said:

“River flows across most of the North East are low after a prolonged period of dry weather, and with the warm weather set to continue we expect levels will continue to drop.

We’re looking at the impacts of dry weather across the region to make sure we can act to preserve water for wildlife and people as we experience extreme weather conditions.

We are taking action alongside Government, water companies, environmental and angling groups and farmers to manage these impacts, such as operating water transfer schemes and managing abstraction licences.”

On 9 August the Environment Agency declared prolonged dry weather in the North East.

Prolonged dry weather is a natural event which has become more likely with climate change. It occurs as a result of low rainfall for an extended period of time. Once prolonged dry weather is declared, actions are taken to minimise impacts on the environment.