Cumbria flood recovery 6 months after Desmond unleashed his wrath
27th May 2016
It is now almost 6 months (6 months on June 4) since Storm Desmond hit, the emergency repairs to defences have been finished, over 30,000 tonnes of gravel have been moved and investigations are well underway to pin point the cause and extent of flooding. The findings will mean that the Environment Agency have the evidence needed to ensure the right work can take place in the right areas to create the best protection for the people of Cumbria.
The data gathered by the investigations will be used to update the mapping modelling and flood warning service.
Kathryn Tanner, Recovery Manager, for the Environment Agency, said:
Since December, the Environment Agency has been working hard to protect local communities. We’ve been tackling the emergency repairs needed and clearing debris from channels washed down by the winter floods. This work will continue throughout the summer so that we’re ready for winter 2016.
We’ve also employed a number of flood and engineering experts to support our investigations of the cause and extent of the December floods. They’ve helped us to identify what worked and what didn’t, what additional actions could help with future floods and also how to better work with, rather than against nature and the existing landscape to reduce the risk of future flooding.
The findings of these investigations will inform the Flood Investigation Reports being produced by Cumbria County Council, which we can then use to inform community flood risk management plans and future spending on flood defences.
These will form part of the whole river catchment action plans which Cumbria Flood Partnerships are developing. These draw together and identify additional actions required to reduce flood risk from source to the sea.
River Derwent
8 recovery projects have been completed including Pumping station repairs, wall replacements at Cockermouth and Maryport, as well as embankment repairs at Southwaite Mill. 14 repair projects including flood defence repairs, Keswick glass panel and asset repairs, embankment repairs, rebuilding flood defences at Barepot, gravel removal and the stabilisation of a landslip are currently being carried out, with a further 5 projects in the planning stages.
River Eden
10 recovery projects have been completed including pumping station and storage basin repairs at Durranhill, repairs at and around Little Caldew pumping station, flood defence and culvert repairs at Appleby as well as the Crosby on Eden embankment repairs.
12 repair projects including floodgate replacements, embankment, channel and wall repairs are currently being carried out, with a further 3 projects in the planning stages.
Rivers Kent and Leven
So far 7 recovery projects have been completed including flood wall replacement at Ambleside and Burnside, work to deal with the River Sprint landslip and large scale gravel and debris removal at a number of sites. 11 repair projects including embankment repairs at Brigsteer Beck, flood basin and channel repairs at Stock Beck, channel repairs at Kendal and repairs to the industrial estate embankment at Mintsfleet are progressing with a further 7 projects in the planning stages.
At the same time, the Cumbria Floods Partnership, led by Floods Minister Rory Stewart, is re-examining the river catchments in Cumbria from the source to the sea, to make sure that money spent on the environment, farming, and water supply contributes to flood protection. Their aim is to identify ways to manage and reduce flood risk at the same time delivering wider benefits to the local economy, landscape, wildlife and water quality. The partnership is investigating what actions can be taken upstream to reduce river flows, such as tree-planting and the use of flood storage basins, to supplement downstream actions such as gravel-removal and the construction of flood defences.
The partnership consists of community groups, environmental groups, farming representatives, the Environment Agency, Defra and local authorities. Over 100 communities across Cumbria have been consulted as the partnership drafts the first version of a 25 year action plan that will combine the expertise and flood modelling capacity of the Environment Agency with the local knowledge of those working the land or living within affected communities.
Floods Minister Rory Stewart said:
We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Cumbrian communities, to volunteers and to officials. It’s fantastic that since Storm Desmond hit last December, Environment Agency teams have undertaken a Herculean task with a £10m flood defence repair programme across Cumbria. And it’s great news that the government has committed a further £68m to flood defences in Cumbria, better protecting more than 3,500 homes across the county.
The Cumbria Floods Partnership is at the heart of managing flood risk in the future. We are looking at how we manage flood risk from source to sea with new Catchment Directors using the best local expertise and knowledge to better protect our communities.
Back to News