Natural Flood Management (NFM) is a way of reducing flooding that works with nature rather than against it. It offers a range of different techniques to help slow and store water upstream, in order to reduce flooding downstream. NFM doesn’t just offer benefits for flooding - it also helps to enhance nature and provides a multitude of other natural capital benefits.
Over the last 100 years our landscape has been extensively drained for agriculture and engineered to channel water into the river and out to the sea as quickly as possible. Floodplain woodlands were also cleared to access the nutrient rich soils for farming. A large network of drainage ditches, combined with a dredged and deepened river channel means that under extreme rainfall we see a rapid rise and fall in water levels, creating a large flood surge with devastating results. This historic management has also led to a degradation of our rivers and streams, with uniform deep sided channels that lack many of the natural features and habitats important for river health and species, like marginal vegetation and in-channel wood.
Increasingly we understand that a healthy landscape and river network are vital for human health and wellbeing, providing a range of different 'services' such as clean water, fuel and biodiversity. These 'ecosystem services' have largely been taken for granted, however understanding their value is becoming vital in communicating their importance in a framework that is driven by economics. A landscape that offers more natural resilience to rainfall can significantly help to reduce the peak of flood waters, and also help to enhance provision of the natural services so important to humans.
Currently there are over 50 different NFM techniques that have been identified, such as: planting woodland on the floodplain to delay the passage of flood water; planting hedgerows to reduce surface water flow; water retention ponds and bunds; wooden dams designed to help channel water into preferential areas like the floodplain; washland meadows that provide temporary water storage... the techniques can be tailored to the site, and designed to offer maximum benefits for wildlife, and importantly the landowner.
Many NFM measures have benefits for the landowner, such as providing wood fuel, crop protection or reducing issues with flooding and water logging. These measures can also help to reduce stress on our flood infrastructure which has been seen to struggle under the large rainfall events we have seen in recent years. Unlike hard engineered flood options NFM is cheap, favours local natural materials, can be installed with minimal disturbance - sometimes using volunteers, and can be easily removed if redundant.
Whilst there are a number of evident benefits of using a NFM approach, it will take some time to measure the ultimate benefits of some of this work. There is an urgent need to get work underway in order to start to build resilience, and also evidence.
There are a number of other projects that are also using NFM, with some very positive results. See our 'Resources' page for information on these projects.
Over the last 100 years our landscape has been extensively drained for agriculture and engineered to channel water into the river and out to the sea as quickly as possible. Floodplain woodlands were also cleared to access the nutrient rich soils for farming. A large network of drainage ditches, combined with a dredged and deepened river channel means that under extreme rainfall we see a rapid rise and fall in water levels, creating a large flood surge with devastating results. This historic management has also led to a degradation of our rivers and streams, with uniform deep sided channels that lack many of the natural features and habitats important for river health and species, like marginal vegetation and in-channel wood.
Increasingly we understand that a healthy landscape and river network are vital for human health and wellbeing, providing a range of different 'services' such as clean water, fuel and biodiversity. These 'ecosystem services' have largely been taken for granted, however understanding their value is becoming vital in communicating their importance in a framework that is driven by economics. A landscape that offers more natural resilience to rainfall can significantly help to reduce the peak of flood waters, and also help to enhance provision of the natural services so important to humans.
Currently there are over 50 different NFM techniques that have been identified, such as: planting woodland on the floodplain to delay the passage of flood water; planting hedgerows to reduce surface water flow; water retention ponds and bunds; wooden dams designed to help channel water into preferential areas like the floodplain; washland meadows that provide temporary water storage... the techniques can be tailored to the site, and designed to offer maximum benefits for wildlife, and importantly the landowner.
Many NFM measures have benefits for the landowner, such as providing wood fuel, crop protection or reducing issues with flooding and water logging. These measures can also help to reduce stress on our flood infrastructure which has been seen to struggle under the large rainfall events we have seen in recent years. Unlike hard engineered flood options NFM is cheap, favours local natural materials, can be installed with minimal disturbance - sometimes using volunteers, and can be easily removed if redundant.
Whilst there are a number of evident benefits of using a NFM approach, it will take some time to measure the ultimate benefits of some of this work. There is an urgent need to get work underway in order to start to build resilience, and also evidence.
There are a number of other projects that are also using NFM, with some very positive results. See our 'Resources' page for information on these projects.