2018-2021
Clarborough and Welham, two villages located in North Nottinghamshire, have a long history of flooding issues. In November 2019, floods inundated the community, re-fuelling a call for improvements to local flood management. Earlier floods in summer 2007 and January 2008 demonstrated the village’s vulnerability to the incoming water. Over the years, ongoing local concern sparked a consultation which resulted in the launch of an ambitious Natural Flood Management project.
Trent Rivers Trust initially scoped the work and launched Capital Works in 2020. The Natural Flood Management project has been funded by Nottinghamshire County Council. Led by the Trent River Trust, the project has been made possible thanks to the support of local landowners who volunteered their land within the 4.7km2 catchment area. The collaboration has resulted in over 50 strategically placed Natural Flood Management features.
Mapping landscape features and flow paths in the affected area, the Trent Rivers Trust modelled the flow of water during flood events. In Clarborough, ‘pluvial flooding’, flood events caused by rainfall, as opposed to a river, brook or stream breaking its banks, had been recorded in the past. Identifying the routes of water during these often sudden downpours, Trent Rivers Trust identified opportunities to slow the rate and speed of the water. We then worked with landowners, introducing the relatively new Defra-endorsed concept of Natural Flood Management and what this could look like on their land.
Natural Flood Management features installed at Clarborough include 4 bunds, 38 leaky barriers, construction of a 2-stage channel in an existing ditch to increase water storage capacity, 5 storage ponds, two online storage areas, and planting of 0.4ha of native woodland species to create a tree buffer zone. These features are focussed on the area to the southeast of Clarborough which is where most of the flood water is coming from.
With over 50 features installed, the Clarborough Natural Flood Management scheme has been our biggest flood risk reduction project to date. It demonstrates a vast variety of NFM features working alongside different types of land.
More importantly, the project has demonstrated the value of nature-based solutions and how they can, often more cost-effectively, work alongside grey infrastructure solutions. As comprehensive modelling and research has gone into this project. We have been able to educate and manage community and partner expectations.
There are other obvious advantages to a NFM scheme, particularly that it works alongside nature and creates new and better environments; it is considerably cheaper than many engineered schemes. However, its impact is generally seen as reducing risks by reducing the rate of flow of water.
– Andrew Avery, Local resident.
The successful implementation of our work in Clarborough has meant that we have been able to secure future funding, expanding on our Natural Flood Management work in the catchment.
Funded by:
Nottinghamshire County Council
enquiries@trentriverstrust.org
The Trent Rivers Trust,
Middle Mill,
Darley Abbey Mills,Darley Abbey,DerbyDE22 1DZ
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