Flood risk and rivers
Flood events are increasing in frequency and severity because of rising rainfall and sea levels, with devastating consequences for people, property and infrastructure.
Compounding these risks are increasing pressures from population growth, development in flood plains and low lying coastal areas, and ageing flood defences and levees.
Yet funding for flood risk management is frequently stretched. The agencies and companies responsible are expected to do more, but with fewer resources.
A systems driven approach is required, looking beyond macro issues to deal with problems at their source – for example, making changes to upper catchments that positively impact conditions at a lower, local level.
What can we do for you?
We work with agencies and organisations responsible for flood risk management, helping to achieve protection that is cost-effective, practical, environmentally sensitive and sustainable. We combine nature-based and traditionally engineered solutions to address the social, environmental and economic dimensions of flood risk.
Fast and accurate flood forecasting
We have decades of experience understanding and quantifying flood risk, developing adaptive pathways, and identifying the thresholds at which change in strategy should be triggered. Leveraging the latest improvements in meteorological data, climate science, systems awareness and modelling power, we can help you to prioritise investments – providing necessary protection while avoiding non-essential expenditure and setting out clear steps to maintain and improve protection in years to come.
Improve sustainability
Natural flood management and blue-green infrastructure have relatively low operating costs compared with more traditional hard engineering schemes that can add pressure on future maintenance budgets. We help you manage whole catchments, using models to identify local interventions that can change water flows and minimise the frequency and severity of flooding.
Plan investment wisely
Through systematic planning, we ensure new assets are built in safe locations, can withstand projected flood events, and do not exacerbate the effects of flooding on adjacent assets.
Increase resilience and recover quickly
For owners and operators, we identify the vulnerability of existing infrastructure and property to flooding and develop solutions to strengthen them, in order to maintain continuity of service during low impact events and to recover swiftly from worst-case floods.
Wellbeing and community opportunities
Realising opportunities to improve catchment management can increase the diversity of the wider area, for instance by planting woods and hedgerows, creating leaky woody dams, or making improvements in soil health. At a local level, blue-green infrastructure can provide a green corridor for wildlife and improve local community access to a natural environment, which can also promote naturally cooler environments.
Blue Gold, south and southwest Bangladesh. This eight-year programme empowered communities to strengthen coastal and river defences protecting their farmland and to diversify their farming practices.
Managing flood risk and river systems for safer communities
We work at the leading edge of this field, harnessing natural flood management, employing state-of-the-art digital solutions, finding ways to reduce carbon and maximising social benefits.
We authored the world’s first guidance and specifications for natural flood management. Working with the natural hydrology, geomorphology and ecology of river catchments and valleys, we design solutions to slow and retain rainwater run-off, reducing the need for more traditional flood protection solutions.
Our experience
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Bangkok smart flood management decision support system, ThailandWe created a predictive model that employs machine learning – the first of its kind – to forecast how storms will develop, where rainfall will be most intense, and how local rivers, drainage channels and sewers will respond. It updates every ten minutes, allowing city authorities and emergency responders to anticipate where flooding will occur, issue warnings and organise evacuations to keep citizens safe.
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Blue Gold, south and southwest BangladeshThis eight-year programme empowered communities to strengthen coastal and river defences protecting their farmland and to diversify their farming practices. It also addressed scarcity of fresh water for drinking and crop irrigation – a challenge exacerbated by climate change. The programme improved incomes for nearly 200,000 households or 1M people.
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Cohocksink storm flood relief, Philadelphia, USAWeaving new sewer capacity through the existing utilities and historic remnants of a 340-year-old city requires liaison with multiple asset owners and other stakeholders. The Cohocksink project doubles the previously existing sewer capacity and will prevent flooding after heavy rainfall. Greater system controls reduce sewage outflow into the Delaware River, improving the environment for both aquatic life and the local population.
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Ecology mitigation and flood defence in Avonmouth Severnside enterprise area, UKWith rising sea levels threatening local communities, commerce and wildlife, our designs are providing flood defence to the Avonmouth Severnside enterprise area. And this new protection for thousands of homes and businesses comes with new wetland habitats, enhanced walking routes and views, and thousands of jobs.
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Linear river defences, Leeds, UKAs part of the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme Phase 2, we developed a suite of linear defences within an urban environment which enabled the unlocking of redevelopment land for commercial and residential purposes. Aesthetically pleasing defences provided within the urban environment reconnected the River Aire with the local community and reinvigorated the environment alongside the river corridor.
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Natural flood management, Leeds, UKWe developed a range of natural flood management solutions to help reduce flood risk on a working farm in the Upper Aire catchment, as part of Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme Phase 2. These were designed in conjunction with the clients and landowners to enable a contractor to deliver the works, in a steep hill farm setting. The solution included swales, bunds, leaky barriers and ponds to slow rainwater run-off.
