Investment in flood defences needed

11 March 2010

A report from Environment Agency Wales shows that investment in flood defences in Wales needs to triple to around £135m a year by 2035 to continue to protect properties from flooding and climate change.

In its ’Future Flooding in Wales: Flood Defences’ report, Environment Agency Wales said the increase in investment would allow the current standard of protection for properties at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea to be maintained under the additional pressures anticipated with climate change, such as rising sea levels, increased rainfall and more rapid rates of coastal erosion.

Around one in nine homes and businesses in Wales are currently at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea and around £44m was invested last year in building and maintaining flood defences to protect them.

Environment Agency Wales is responsible for some 1,800 miles of flood defences and 5,500 sluices, outfalls, floodgates and barriers in Wales. Between 2003 and 2009, investment by Environment Agency Wales to improve flood defences reduced the risk of flooding to more than 5,800 properties.

Chris Mills, Environment Agency Wales director, said: ’A steady increase in investment is vital to maintain current levels of protection against rising sea levels, more rapid rates of coastal erosion and increasingly severe and frequent rain storms due to climate change.’