SRA Annual Report 2020-21: Introduction to Land Management and Natural Flood Management
2020-21 summary
- 12 capital grant schemes
- 6 Triple C schemes
- 19 highways referrals
- 3 soil visits
- an online auction for natural flood management works which generated 119 successful bids
- 23 Trees for Water grant schemes
The map below shows a small selection of the various schemes undertaken.
Somerset Rivers Authority funds a huge range of natural flood management activities countywide. This workstream is led for the SRA by the Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group SouthWest. It is known for its sophistication, strong partnership working and dogged attention to local detail. Activities to Slow the Flow of water down through catchments generally go under the popular local branding of Hills to Levels. This makes it easier for partners to get involved and to contribute match-funding so that more can be achieved.
The SRA is one of several bodies that have funded Hills to Levels over the last five years, firstly using Growth Deal money from the Heart of the SW Local Enterprise Partnership and then money from council tax.
The three main strands of work are:
1. Capital grants given to farmers and landowners for Natural Flood Management projects that slow the flow of water and reduce flooding risks across the county.
2. ‘Highways referrals’ – that is, looking for answers to highway flooding problems in better management of land nearby.
3. Trees for Water grants given to landowners for small-scale localised planting schemes to reduce surface water run-off problems.
All this work aims to:
- reduce the depth and duration of floods in Somerset
- diminish local flash flooding and flood risks
- minimise sediment being washed from fields on to the banks of rivers. The benefits of this include less need for de-silting in lower catchments and less need for pumping to remove water on the Somerset Levels & Moors.