Herefordshire Council have received Flood and Coastal Risk Management funding that is enabling us to continue to deliver Natural Flood Management (NFM) in seven priority sub-catchments in Herefordshire until March 2027.
Our River Wye and Lugg NFM Pilot Project (2018-2021) was one of 26 catchment scale projects funded by £15m of DEFRA funding for NFM projects in England.
Through the Pilot Project, catchment advisors worked with over 140 individual landowners, providing them with free tailored advice about the NFM opportunities available on their land.
Thanks to the support of local landowners and communities, a wide variety of NFM measures were implemented through the pilot project, helping to slow the flow of water and reduce the flood risk to downstream communities.
These measures included:
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Soil management: 60.9 hectares grassland aeration, 106.3 hectares arable sub-soiling;
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Over winter cover: 189.13 hectares cover cropping, 87.36 hectares under sewing maize;
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Water retention: 20 attenuation areas, creating approximately 4,410 square metres of additional storage, 137 leaky dams, 3 in-ditch seepage barriers;
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Fencing: 1,117 metres fencing to enhance channel roughness or protect newly planted trees and hedges;
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Trackway improvements: 26 cross drains (traditional and natural design);
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Tree planting: 4.78 hectares tree planting, 795 metres hedge planting (supported by Woodland Trust); and
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Landowner innovations: GPS system to remove need for tramlines, 2 rainwater harvesting systems, 176 hectares direct drilling, under-sowing maize drill, 0.8 hectares meadow creation, bankside willow planting, overflow wetland area, 300 metres electric fencing to protect newly planted woodland and 60 metres enhanced wetland ditch.
The Pilot Project demonstrated just how successful NFM can be, and the reduction in flooding that NFM can provide to downstream communities.
Given the huge potential to continue the good work and deliver more NFM in Herefordshire, a total of £1,273,600 has been secured, that will enable the project to continue in the seven priority sub-catchments until at least March 2027. This Environment Agency funding comprises Flood Defence Grant in Aid and Local Regional Flood Risk Management Committee monies.
Our approach to NFM builds upon our learning from the Pilot Project:
- Catchment advisors from the Wye and Usk Foundation and Severn Rivers Trust will work with individual landowners, providing free tailored advice about the NFM opportunities available on their land.
- A Grant Scheme supports landowners and farmers in altering their land and water management practices in order to slow the flow of water and reduce flood risk to downstream communities; and
- We will collect evidence on the multiple benefits that can be achieved through river and rainfall monitoring, measuring moisture content in soils and determining soil health.
Case studies can be found on the council's NFM webpages.
A local landowner, Tom Jay of Derndale Farm near Wellington, worked with members of the local community and the Head of Nature Recovery at Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, Claire Spicer, to plan and design a series of attenuation ponds.
The attenuation ponds aimed to hold some of the water back on the land to reduce the quantity of water flowing downstream and to help reduce the risk of flooding in Wellington. The 3 attenuation ponds were completed in March 2023 and were active during the recent flooding associated with Storm Henk.
To find out more about this Environment Agency funded project, visit the Herefordshire Wildlife Trust website.
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There are many ways in which you can get involved with the NFM project:
Own land within one of the priority sub-catchments?
Landowners can get free specialist advice about how to implement NFM measures. Please email the council's NFM Project Officer to find our more and arrange this.
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Want to view river and rainfall monitoring data?
We have installed river and rainfall monitoring within the seven sub-catchments. The data collected is publicly available on the TimeView website:
- User name: Wye and Lugg NFM Project
- Password: slowtheflow
Rainfall data for Brimfield brook catchment is being collected and is available to view from Environment Agency monitoring station 1792.
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If your property or business was affected by flooding in January 2024, please report it online with our flood incident form as this may help us secure additional flood funding support for the county and help minimise flooding problems in the future. https://orlo.uk/n8bis
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Past events - what's been going on?
Herefordshire Rural Business Advice day
The annual Herefordshire Rural Business Advice day was held at Hereford Racecourse on 14 November 2023. There were stands representing many aspects of farming and rural business, including the council’s NFM team.
The well attended event was organised by Herefordshire Rural Hub.
Visit the Herefordshire Rural Hub website to find out more about the support and resources they provide.
Herefordshire Flood Groups meeting
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Herefordshire residents already part of a flood group, interested in joining one, or considering establishing a new flood group were invited to an event on 29 November 2023 to connect with Agencies and fellow flood groups. Attendees were able to hear from some of those agencies involved in Herefordshire's flood response such as: Herefordshire Council (including the NFM team), the Environment Agency, Balfour Beatty Living Places and the National Flood Forum.
To find out more about flood-related matters, visit the council’s webpages.
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Upcoming events - come and join us!
NFM Information Day - 6 February 2024
If you want to learn more about how the Herefordshire NFM Project is reducing flood risk, then come along to our NFM information day on Tuesday 6 February 2024 at Hereford Town Hall. The day will contain two sessions:
- Session 1: 09:00 – 12:00
- Session 2: 12:30 – 16:30
On the day you can:
- Meet the Herefordshire NFM Project Team
- Discuss how we are using NFM to reduce flood risk
- Find out about how flooding is managed in Herefordshire
- Meet with others in your catchment
- Ask questions
Please note, the event has a primary focus on the catchment areas within the Herefordshire NFM project, however the team will do their best to address any queries raised outside of these areas.
If you'd like to attend the event, please email the Herefordshire NFM Team to book your place on to a session. Please respond by 30 January 2024.
Key contacts:
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