SRA Annual Report 2025-26: Resilient Infrastructure
In the Somerset 20 Year Flood Action Plan, drawn up in 2014, two of the six main objectives were about making the county’s infrastructure more resilient. They urged that access should be maintained for people and businesses travelling within Somerset or through the county.
This imperative was picked up in the Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA) Strategy for 2024-34, the second of whose five objectives is to “Maintain access and connections during times of flood for communities and businesses across Somerset”. The SRA therefore deals with flooding along highways as well as waterways.
Fact: £303,000 was spent by the SRA on this workstream in 2025-26, that is 6.7% of the year’s total spending.
CCTV surveys
Somerset Council arranged SRA-funded CCTV surveys in the centre of Haselbury Plucknett, and Lower Keyford in Frome (as part of a scheme in Lower Keyford). Getting accurate information through surveys helps interested parties (such as Flood Risk Management Authorities, landowners and residents) to pinpoint and deal with flooding problems.
Enhanced maintenance of road drainage structures
Extra maintenance helps to keep roads open, make them safer, preserve access for communities, and safeguard properties from flooding. In 2025-26, SRA funding enabled Somerset Council’s Highways Department to give 23,182 of the highest-risk gullies across Somerset a second round of emptying, six months after their first council-funded clearout. A long list of places that benefitted is on the SRA website.
Also in 2025-26, SRA funding (carried over from a previous year) enabled Highways to jet drains at six locations. In recent years, Highways have only been able to afford to jet drains when bad blockages have occurred. SRA funding allows for earlier preventative maintenance at places known to flood.
Local knowledge and professional judgement are used in selecting these extra sites. In 2025-26, they were:
- Barton St David, Mill Road
- Compton Dundon, Ham Lane
- Galhampton, High Road
- Mudford, Hinton Road
- Shepton Montague, Higher Shepton Road
- Taunton, Lisieux Way
Robins Lane, Burtle
The Axe Brue IDB finished designing an SRA-funded scheme to reduce flooding along Robins Lane in Burtle. Two undersized culverts and a dilapidated roadside ditch have long caused problems at this site. Works are now due in 2026, once a necessary road closure has been arranged.
