Is this a watershed moment?

After the wettest September in Northants on record, a review of the county’s flood management system is underway

The flood gate at Washlands, Northampton.

By Sarah Ward

A review of the county’s flood management system will get underway after the wettest September ever recorded in the county.

Three times the average rainfall hit the county last month, with communities from the South to the East experiencing flooding. Two flood warnings at Cogenhoe Mill and at the River Tove in Towcester still remain in place.

On the wet and windy bank of the Washlands reservoir in Northampton yesterday, area flood risk manager Ben Thornely, who is at the forefront of managing the county’s response, said last Thursday he had warned agencies involved in the flood operations that a 1998 type event, which saw thousands of homes and businesses in the centre of Northampton flooded, could happen.

After days of rain the forecast had looked grim, and with the reservoir at 97 per cent capacity, the fight to control the flow of the River Nene may have been lost. But the rain levels dropped off and the catastrophe which had been warned off, thankfully did not occur.

Built in the 1970s to protect the Brackmills area, the Washlands reservoir is a vital part of controlling the river’s potency in the centre of town. The literature about the Washlands (which can store 2.4m cubic metres of water) says very exceptionally during extreme flood conditions the reservoir can no longer be used to control river levels. But as we have seen this year, the extreme flood conditions are becoming more frequent.

Flood risk manager Ben Thornely.

Ben Thornely said:

“The last year has been record breaking. There’s been about ten of 12 months that have been above the average rainfall, so that is crazy, a factor of climate change, so we’re going to have to adapt.

“It’s about prevention and it's about resilience. So communities, local authorities, the Environment Agency, will all have to work together to help communities become more resilient and more able to manage and deal with the impacts that we are seeing from climate change.”

Asked what that means in practical terms he said:

“It could be adapting to locations where people live and it could be increasing the capacity of certain systems, operating river systems differently. Drainage systems that are the responsibility of local authorities and water companies may need to be considered, but that’s work that we’ve all got to collectively do to assess what the options are and to try and mitigate the impact.

“We can never say that we can stop all flooding, but what we can do is work with communities to help them understand their flood risk better, become more resilient and in turn look at options to potentially mitigate the impacts of increased flood risk.”

Asked if the capacity of the reservoir could be increased, he said it was possible, but currently unlikely that the necessary funding would come because of the policy about static caravans on flood plains. When the sluice gates of the reservoir are opened, the water heads down to the floodplain at Billing Aquadrome. The site has been evacuated three times this year.

Environment secretary Steve Reed visited Northampton last week and spoke about funds for flood prevention that had not been spent, but did not make any promises to Northamptonshire.

Cllr Smithers.

The two unitary councils leaders Cllr Jason Smithers and Cllr Adam Brown say they will be seeking funding to improve the system. 

Cllr Brown said:

“I think we do need to have a proper long term look at what flood defences are in place, although we had an extraordinary amount of rain this time, these sort of extreme weather events seem to be becoming more commonplace. So we just want to be reassured that we’ve got what we  need and we’ll hopefully be able to work with the experts in Defra [Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), in the Environment Agency, and secure some funding.”

Cllr Smithers said the authorities needed to ensure there is capacity in the current drainage system. He said an option would be looking at holding flood surface water in silos that could be released at a time when the flooding had receded.

The existing Northants flood risk management strategy dates back to 2016. Last week the West unitary council said that it will now go under review and be updated.

An earlier article from NN Journal