Background:

The Environment Agency’s Flood and Coastal Risk Management (FCRM) teams develop their 6-year programme to improve flood protection for communities identified as being at risk from flooding.  These schemes can provide opportunities to deliver environmental outcomes such as The Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) Regulations 2017 (WER) measures and habitat creation.

New legislation (Environment Act) and Environment Agency Policy (E:mission 2030) will only increase the requirement to deliver these outcomes.  For example, all FCRM schemes will need to deliver biodiversity and environmental net gain.

What we are doing:

We will work with the FCRM teams to develop a new prioritisation system that will include natural capital costs and opportunities to integrate wider environmental benefits into decision making.  These will include WER and biodiversity and environmental enhancements for the benefit of people and nature.

Natural capital mapping using a GIS based system will be used to allow all potential opportunities and factors relating to any scheme to be incorporated into the prioritisation matrix.

Who else is involved?

Environment Agency, Jacobs, Liverpool John Moores University.

Project location:

North West River Basin District, plus elements of Dee and Solway Tweed.

Latest update:

Please check back later.