Natural Flood Management : Quantification and Modelling

"Due to climate change, across the UK, the frequency and severity of extreme weather events will increase, sea levels will rise, summers will become warmer and drier, and winters will be warmer and wetter. Continued urbanisation replaces once-vegetated areas with impermeable surfaces, which increases run-off rates and reduces lag times to receiving watercourses. Conventional/historical methods of flood management prioritised transferring flood waters downstream as quickly as possible.

However, it is now more widely accepted that more sustainable flood management methods are required to tackle future flood risk. These methods are commonly referred to as Natural Flood Management (NFM) methods (a form of Nature Based Solutions - NBS). The aim of this project is to carry out a review of new and existing technologies with respect to environmental observations and telemetry, then design and implement a network across recently constructed nature-based solutions (such as NFM schemes) to monitor their effectiveness in the wake of a changing climate. The quantification will provide invaluable, novel data that will prove imperative to our understanding of NFM systems; and be of use when justifying NFM and NBS to governing bodies and clients.

This project will support the ongoing investigative work by the NFM team at ARUP, and two potential test catchments have been identified for monitoring works: Weardale and Lustrum Beck.

Key research Gaps and Questions:
How effective are current NFM schemes for mitigating flood risk?
What long-term empirical data is necessary to promote the update of NFM?
How do the wider benefits of NFM features manifest over time?"