Out now: SRA Annual Report 2023-24

The Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA) Annual Report 2023-24 is out now.

You can read the entire text of the Somerset Rivers Authority Annual Report 2023-24 on this website. It’s split up into sections to make it easier to explore topic by topic.

You can get an illustrated 48-page PDF of the Somerset River Authority Annual Report 2023-24 (10MB).

Or a 35-page Somerset Rivers Authority Annual Report 2023-24 TEXT ONLY version (0.3MB).

What is in the SRA Annual Report 2023-24

The report covers activities funded by Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA) in the 2023-24 financial year, that is from the start of April 2023 to the end of March 2024.

Over these 12 months, the SRA spent £3.804 million on schemes and activities to reduce the risks and impacts of flooding across Somerset.

That money came from council tax raised solely for the SRA by Somerset Council, plus contributions from the Axe Brue and Parrett Internal Drainage Boards.

Introduced by SRA Chair Mike Stanton

Councillor Mike Stanton sat on River Aller floodplain timber with Holnicote estate hills on the horizon.
Councillor Mike Stanton, Chair of Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA), on the National Trust’s Holnicote estate in the west of Somerset.

In these extracts from his foreword to the annual report, SRA Chair Councillor Mike Stanton writes:

“I’m pleased to introduce the ninth annual report of Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA). Here you will find details of dozens of SRA-funded activities across Somerset between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024…

“The SRA was launched in January 2015 following the devastating flooding that hit Somerset over the winter of 2013-14 and the production of a 20 Year Flood Action Plan.

“A decade on, a lot has been achieved, but there is still much more to be done. 2023-24 showed climate change intensifying flooding problems across our county, lashing with more force and unpredictability. Total up all the places hit countywide – like the Cam valley in May, West Somerset and the Tone catchment in September, Shepton Mallet and Croscombe in October, Brue settlements for months in the winter – and many more properties flooded than in 2014…

“Partners in the SRA are Somerset Council, the Axe Brue and Parrett Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs), the Environment Agency, Natural England, Wessex Regional Flood & Coastal Committee, and Wessex Water. To help strengthen our partnership, and keep going above and beyond what partners can achieve individually for Somerset, we have drawn up a new strategy for 2024-34, evolved from the 2014 Flood Action Plan…

“For 2023-24, the SRA got just over £3million through council tax, and the IDBs contributed £20,000. The sums we get are still tied to the level at which they were set in 2016-17. They still enable much good work to be done, but in real terms their value has decreased, while demands upon the SRA’s funding and our partners’ funding have increased. The Environment Agency locally, for example, gets less than half what it bids for from central government for maintenance.

“As we approach the SRA’s 10th anniversary, we face some hard constraints and challenges, but as a partnership we are determined to push on with a range of initiatives within Somerset catchments. Plans include following up on fresh modelling we commissioned for the River Brue lowlands, and encouraging more organisations to apply to us for grants big and small.

“I trust that this report will show you how much Somerset Rivers Authority has been doing for you across Somerset and suggest what we might achieve together over the next few years. As ever, please get in touch with us if you have any comments or questions.”

Back To Top