DRIP is trialling different smart technologies to improve community flood resilience. Devon County Council is leading a pilot project to test the potential of smart gullies.

Smart gullies are devices installed into targeted drains, that provide live information about the silt and water levels. This information can be used to inform proactive cleaning of gullies, to ensure they maintain capacity ahead of heavy rainfall events. 

We are excited to announce that smart gullies have now been installed in Kingsbridge (left), Ottery St Mary, Exton and Braunton. These devices will be in place for 18 months as part of the pilot project. The data will be evaluated by our partners Previsico who are supplying the technology, to determine the potential of using these devices on a wider scale in the future to improve resilience to surface water flooding. 

DRIP is trialling a surface water flood forecasting system in a number of communities across Devon. Recently, the Parish Council in Combe Martin were introduced to the project (left) and volunteers have signed up to receive alerts as part of the trial. It is hoped that the system will provide advanced warning of potential surface water flooding, to give communities more time prepare and take mitigating actions. 

Work has been progressing well in Stokeinteinghead, where a number of Natural Flood Management (NFM) techniques are being used to encourage floodplain restoration. Scrapes have been dug out surrounding the existing channel, and leaky dams have been created using woody debris (left). This will support greater storage of water in the field and slow the flow of water travelling into Stokeinteignhead during heavy rainfall events. Monitoring is underway from our PhD students to evaluate the success and co-benefits of this work.