LOUGHBOROUGH Measures will create additional flood-storage and slow water from the hillsides surrounding the town. Local rivers charity, Trent Rivers Trust, is currently working at The Outwoods and Beacon Hill to intercept and store water during periods of high rainfall, as part of a larger natural flood management scheme.
Works are taking place through late September and early October. They will provide residents with more time to prepare and reduce the impact of flood events. This is part of a wider push for climate-resilient, spongier landscapes, towns and cities, funded by a partnership between leading insurer Aviva and WWF.
A total of over 150 measures including brushwood bundles, leaky barriers, ponds and wetlands act as a first line of defence, as work focuses on slowing surface runoff feeding into the Wood Brook from the Moat Brook. Flooding from the brook poses significant risk to homes and businesses in some low-lying areas in Loughborough.
An important element of the project has been to create opportunities for local people to get involved and learn about natural flood management. Many of the features installed were built by a team of enthusiastic volunteers who spent hundreds of hours installing bundles of brushwood across flow paths mapped out by the rivers charity.
Ruth Needham, Head of Landscapes and Partnerships at Trent Rivers Trust said:
“We would like to thank the volunteers for supporting this approach and for spending hundreds of hours of their time to make this work possible.
By focussing on where a watercourse starts – essentially where rain falls – we’re working in an area where there’s still a degree of control. By using natural materials, such as brushwood from the surrounding woodlands, or by creating wetlands, we’re introducing interventions that will, after some time, seamlessly blend into the landscape. By introducing or enhancing these natural processes, we’ll see a range of additional benefits for wildlife and water quality.
A lot of this work leans on the principle of ‘little and often’ and we, at Trent Rivers Trust, are determined to bring more of these natural flood management solutions into our countryside, towns and cities.”
Volunteer, Michael Byes, said:
“Volunteering at The Outwoods and Beacon Hill with Trent Rivers Trust gave me the opportunity to learn about NFM, practically building the brush bundles, to meet other volunteers from a variety of backgrounds, some along with the TRT team, with an in-depth knowledge of flooding risk management which has increase my understand, which is helpful having flooded on three occasions in the last 12 years.”
Peter Dadswell from the EA said:
“Natural Flood Management (NFM) is an important element of the overall portfolio of measures we need to address the challenges of flood management going forward, particularly with the predicted increase in high rainfall events in future decades with the onset of climate change. Getting local communities involved in delivery of NFM in their water catchments is an excellent way of increasing awareness to the issues and building flood resilience for the future.”
