We are carrying out novel environmental science to improve understanding of different Natural Flood Management (NFM) measures for a range of flood risk scenarios.  This four year £4m study programme is funded by NERC.

The research has been co-designed with project partners Defra, the Environment Agency, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, the Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales.

What is Natural Flood Risk Management?  

Natural flood management approaches address flood risk by protecting, restoring and emulating the natural regulating function of catchments and rivers.  They help reduce flood risk by storing and slowing water, increasing flow connectivity, and increasing soil infiltration. NFM can provide environmentally sensitive approaches to minimising flood risk, to reduce flood risk in areas where hard flood defences are not feasible, and to increase the lifespan of existing flood defences.

For more, see this NERC article on Managing flooding by working with nature