Flooding

[Alex]

Have you ever been personally affected by flooding? Is your woodland at risk of flooding?

I'm personally from a steeply sloped upland area, and so flooding has never caused any direct issues to myself, I'm asking as I'd like to get a better understanding of how others feel and cope with the issue.

Secondly as woodland owners are you able to apply for Higher Level Stewardship schemes? Or do these environmental stewardship schemes only apply to land that isn't already forested? Apologies if that is a stupid question!

[Stephen1]

Very different for us in North Wales Alex with Glastir than for the majority of members here. At the moment the welsh grant system for woodlands is a bit of a mess, whilst we're waiting for something a new scheme to start. Previously we had the Better Woodlands for Wales grants which were great - but at the moment the provision is very poor.

[Stephen1]

I cant reply to the question Alex, but glad Im looking at woodlands now, as waterlogged areas more likely to be seen

I understand every single word you say ratcatcher - but put them all together and I have no idea what you're saying???

[Alex]

think ratcatcher was saying... he's glad to be on the lookout for new woodlands now when that the weather is wet, so he knows how saturated or whether the ground does flood, than in the summer when it's more likely to be dry!

I think so anyway.

You're spot on Stephen about BWW, since all the schemes got put into the same 'hat' of Glastir, it's all gone a bit poor.

Anyways I'm trying to connect the schemes to an environmentally friendly - flood management scheme, obviously they do benefit water management in the catchment, but the schemes aren't as 'marketed' as much as they could be for, flood risk management purposes, if they were, then perhaps landowners would have more obvious incentives to engage with land use adaptation.

There are examples throughout the UK where land use changes has been researched and projects (Pontbren) undertaken to control run-off in uppercatchments.

[Stephen1]

Anyways I'm trying to connect the schemes to an environmentally friendly - flood management scheme, obviously they do benefit water management in the catchment, but the schemes aren't as 'marketed' as much as they could be for, flood risk management purposes, if they were, then perhaps landowners would have more obvious incentives to engage with land use adaptation.

Hi Alex

We've got a bit of land down on the floor of the Conwy Valley - on the flood plain. Used to be good hay/silage land but getting wetter all the time now, and I pretty much just think of it as rough grazing for the summer.

Might be interesting to meet up at some point - Do I remember you saying you're somewhere near Ruthin? What do you have in mind in terms of an "environmentally friendly flood management scheme?

[Alex]

Hi Stephen,

Unfortunately the way flooding is dealth with in England and Wales is overly complicated (to say the least!), I work for Denbighshire, meaning your ground is outside 'my patch'. Also if the land is adjoined by a main river or 'central line' as they are called by the authorities it would be up to the Environment Agency more than the Local Authority who is responsible for tributaries to central lines and surface water flooding.

It's early days regarding all of this though, LFRMS's (local flood risk management strategies) aren't due for completion til 2015, and even then the full engagement of landowners might not be immediate. At present, I'm basically trying to piece together a picture of the county, getting to know who is responsible for what and where. A lot of times, it's a polite 'piss off' or 'why don't you refer to land registry' response. It's nightmare of a job, and as a small land owner myself fully understand their reluctance. Fortunately the council owns a lot of land, a few estate managers are open to discussion, and public bodies are inclined to provide information.

As for environmentally friendly flood management schemes, I'm not sure of the exact way in which local authorities could offer land owners any reasons for planting trees, creating small reservoirs, adding green roofing etc, of course there is the Glastir agro-environmental scheme, but at the heart of that is biodiversity rather than the issue of water/flood management, there might be a case in the future whereby if land after being assessed for suitability (e.g. is found to have significant run-off) there might be additional incentive for landowners through the Glastir scheme.

A lot of flood warnings out today from the Environment Agency, a few headline floods might do me favour! The ground is very saturated throughout the country at the moment, so look out!

Anyways thanks Stephen, I'll keep in touch on here.

[Emma S]

We have higher level stewardship, BUT our woodland is only a small part of a larger holding, and tbh the woodland options are a bit crap within the scheme, as there is only a general 'woodland management' option, which is far less than you would get for a forestry commisision scheme.
As our woodland was a bit bigger than the usual, we ended up having to have a bit of a dual system, where we had funding given by Natural England to apply through the woodland grant scheme for a management plan. that gave us our felling licences. I THINK but am not sure, that we can now apply to forestry commission too for stuff like fencing, but am not certain. I will be trying anyway!

[Meadowcopse]

My meadow and orchard is in the area that the River Dee occasionally floods (1 field / 100metres from the bank).
I'm on the Cheshire, English side, although wet weather doesn't recognise national boundaries...
There is a catchment management plan, but I'm not aware of any engagement with landowners locally, large or small http://www.jubileeriver.co.uk/River%20Dee%20CFMP%20-%20GEWA0110BRKO-e-e.pdf - also complicated by various statutory bodies / agencies either side of the English / Welsh border.
The previous landowner had HLS immediately around his farm, but my plot is a satellite block some distance away.
The immediate land to my south boundary is a SSSI.

Magic Map http://magic.defra.gov.uk/ is always handy for designations with various selectable overlays