1. SuDS Kerrie Ginns, Andrew Leadbetter & Paul Burrows Environment Agency
Flood & Water Management Act - Defra
Surface Water Drainage - Defra
Flood Risk Regulations
Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment Guidance
Examples of Local Flood Risk Partnerships - IDeA website
Kerrie Ginns, Andrew Leadbetter & Paul Burrows
Environment Agency
July 2010

2. Green Infrastructure and SuDS
Green Infrastructure overview
Why Green Infrastructure is important to the Environment Agency
Green Infrastructure = SuDS
Local flood risk, current policy and future challenges

3. What is Green Infrastructure?
Green Infrastructure (GI) is a concept that describes a network of inter-connected, multifunctional green and blue spaces designed to meet the environmental, social and economic needs of a community.

5. Green Infrastructure assets
playing fields and allotments……

7. Green Infrastructure assets
towpaths and wildlife corridors………

9. Green Infrastructure assets
beaches…….

11. Green Infrastructure assets
watercourses…..

13. Green Infrastructure assets
wetlands and flood storage areas…..

15. Green Infrastructure assets
woodlands…..

17. Green Infrastructure assets
trees…..

19. Green Infrastructure assets
grasslands…..

21. Green Infrastructure assets
and green roofs and walls….

23. Why is Green Infrastructure important for the Environment Agency?
1. GI is essential for sustainable development and for the delivery of sustainable communities.
2. We support the enhancement and increased development of well planned and managed GI networks.
3. New developments should include sufficient GI to support community and environmental needs.
4. Where appropriate and feasible, GI should be retrofitted into existing developments.
5. For maximum effect, GI should be strategically planned and managed.

24. Why is Green Infrastructure important for the Environment Agency?
6. Partnership working is essential for successful GI planning, development and management.
7. GI is an important and useful concept for the Environment Agency.
8. We should encourage the enhancement of blue spaces within all new and existing developments and we should recommend safeguarding floodplains from development by highlighting their multifunctional and flood storage benefits.
9. The coast and surrounding coastal environments are valuable components of GI networks.
10. GI has an important to play in responding to play in responding to climate change.

25. Green Infrastructure = SuDS

26. Green Infrastructure = SuDS

27. Green Infrastructure = SuDS

28. Green Infrastructure = SuDS
Essential for sustainable development
Can be retrofitted into existing developments
Plays an important role in responding to climate change

29. SuDS
Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) are designed with three objectives in mind:
to control the quantity and rate of run-off from a development;
to improve the quality of the run-off;
to enhance the nature conservation, landscape and amenity value of the site and its surroundings.
SuDS deal with run-off as close to its source as possible and balance all three objectives, rather than focussing only on flood prevention.

30. Benefits of individual SuDS techniques

31. Economic benefits of SuDS
Experiences from UK, Europe and the US have shown that when properly planned and implemented, SuDS is no more expensive, if not cheaper than conventional drainage.
For schemes where cost checks have been carried out, SuDS is nearly always cheaper to construct and maintain.

32. The savings accrued (both fiscal and social) are attributed to the following factors:
- Absence of conventional kerbs and gullies
- Reduced need for pipes, surface water sewers, manholes etc and absence of deep trench excavations
- Absence of storage tanks, leading to reduced excavations and construction costs
- Avoiding the need for pipe connections to distant outfalls
- Avoiding the costs involved in routing pipes across land owned by others
- Simpler construction
- Reducing the economic and social cost of flooding
- Limiting the risk of sewage discharge during exceptional high rainfall reduces risk to human health
- Avoiding expensive connections to the local water authority.
- Reducing maintenance costs

33. Local Flood Risk: current policy, future challenges

34. Properties at risk of flooding in England & Wales
23.8m properties not susceptible to flooding
5.5m properties at risk of flooding
>1m properties at risk from river, coastal and surface water flooding
>2.6m properties at risk of river and coastal flooding
>3.9m properties at risk of surface water flooding 34 34

35. Flood and Water Management Act
Impact on surface water
Sections 1-6:
LLFAs to manage local flood risk
Sections 7-12:
National and Local Strategies
Sections 13-14:
Duty to cooperate & power to share information
Schedule 1:
Third party assets

36. FWMA and sustainable drainage
Schedule 3: Sustainable drainage
Section 42: Automatic right to connect

37. Flood Risk Regulations - Timeline
Preliminary Flood Risk Assessments published Dec 2011
Flood Risk Areas - Management Plan
2015
2009
2009
2011
2013
2015
Dec 2011
Flood Risk Areas
identified
Dec 2009
Flood Risk Regulations
Implementation
Dec Flood Risk Areas - maps

38. EA Strategic Overview objectives
Outcome:
Flood risk from all sources is adequately assessed
and managed using a strategic, risk-based approach
To be achieved by:
continued delivery of flood risk management for main rivers and sea, and the oversight of reservoir safety
significantly improved flood risk management for surface water, groundwater and ordinary watercourses

39. Local Flood Risk Roles Lead Local Flood Authority
Lead delivery of local FRM
Build partnerships
SWMPs and SUDs
Local Strategy
Produce Flood Risk Regs assessment-map-plan
Environment Agency
Set the national framework
Support LLFAs
Guidance, data and tools
Flood warning
Implement relevant SWMP actions
Quality Assurance
RFCCs
Role advising on quality and delivery

40. Delivery

41. Surface Water Management Plans (SWMPs)
5 x SWMPs Defra funded (by March 2011)
Northampton, Ipswich, Norwich, Southend, Basildon/Wickford
1 x self funded
Cambridgeshire (county wide – scoping only)
3 x successful early action bids
Peterborough, Cambridge, Thurrock towns

42. Next steps Commencement of the FWM Act
Establish and support Partnerships
Clarity on Funding sources
Delivery against Flood Risk Regulations
Pursue the Strategic Overview and Localism

43. Questions

44. Discussion
What progress is your Authority making in setting up partnerships, are planners linked into these?
How well have the requirements of the Act and Regs been communicated within your Authority?
What ideas have been discussed around implementation of your new roles in sustainable drainage?