When floods become fun

It’s time to reassess our difficult relationship with floods. Could we even consider them as a good thing?

Requiring householders to apply for permission before they pave over front gardens might sound like yet another finicky planning hurdle for home improvers. But the law, introduced last autumn, actually marked an important first step in reconnecting people with their local water environment.

Cumulative loss of garden area increases surface run-off and ultimately contributes to flooding in drains and watercourses, explains Bill Finlinson, Associate Director of environmental consultancy Entec UK. “I don’t think the average person has any idea about the implications, on the wider community, of what they are doing,” he says.

At the end of a decade of headline-grabbing flood events, our collective attitude to flood risk remains well behind the times. “We had a fairly flood-free period from the late 1940s until the end of the 1990s, and I think people rather forgot about flooding. During that time a lot of inappropriate development went on – and we’re paying for that now.” The challenge, he argues, is to open people’s minds to different ways of thinking about the subject.

Which is why Entec’s flood specialists recently got together to brainstorm the thorny issue, alongside ecologists, engineers and business strategists. The resulting discussions, which have been pulled together with news, opinion and resources in an open forum, make interesting reading. Ideas include not only how to work with floods to avoid the horror of ruined homes and infrastructure, but how to reconnect people, in a more positive way, with what is a natural phenomenon.

One contributor suggested designing public spaces with cascading pools or fountains that would operate only during times of excess water: “Flood alleviation becomes a treat, a transitory feature that is appreciated while it’s there.” Another points out that “Oxford’s development grew around the historic water meadows. When these flood and freeze in winter, people [would] go ice-skating… The flood was looked forward to.”

“Floods are a natural process,” reminds Finlinson. In essence, they are seasonal fluctuations in water flow that we should allow for. Floodplains are part of a river’s ‘living space’, providing important drainage areas and wildlife habitats. 

He’s encouraged that an assumption against new building on flood plains was central to last year’s Pitt Review of the handling of the 2007 floods. The publication’s 92 proposals included closer ties between weather forecasters and flood emergency services, and an end to the humble sandbag.

There’s no sign yet of flood-powered fountains being built around the country, but new projects are at least taking the suggestions on board – and some even include ‘flooding’ and ‘fun’ (or leisure) in the same sentence.

For example, Entec is involved in a scheme in Cornwall to create green corridors on ex-mining land, which would absorb floodwater more effectively than pipes, and double up as nature areas and playing fields. “Most of the time, people would see these corridors as open spaces that they could use for leisure,” Finlinson says. If planners accept the surface water management proposal, drawn up in collaboration with the local authority, future developers would be bound by the scheme.

This mirrors plans for a 120-metre-wide ‘blue belt’ on the flood plain of the River Derwent in Derby, which will protect homes and businesses, and create access to the river. It has been put forward by the Environment Agency as a more sensible solution than simply replacing the river’s ageing flood defences.

Finlinson says there’s no doubt that attitudes towards flooding are changing. “Just five years ago, if you talked to many local authority planners you’d be told that drains were something the drainage department did. Now it’s much higher on their agenda.”

What needs to happen next, he says, is to engage with the public. He’d like to see neighbourhoods prepared for the worst – not just those that have suffered flooding in the past but places where this may be a future challenge. “You need to be honest with people,” Finlinson says. “You have to make them aware of the water courses where they live and the risks involved, and say: ‘Occasionally, there’ll be more water than these drains can take. But we can cope with this –  this is manageable.’”

He stresses that the discourse must not revolve only around risks but opportunities too: “We need to think of flooding as something that society can live with – and that can even be a good thing.”
– Julian Rollins

Entec UK is a Forum for the Future partner.

11 June 2009

Julian Rollins