Consultations underway on Thames Valley flood scheme

The Environment Agency is consulting on the approaches being considered to manage the risk of flooding across the Thames Valley.

A public consultation is now open and runs until 20 August 2021.

As well as sharing initial investigative work on different ways of managing flood risk, the consultation will also provide details on the scope of the strategic environmental assessment.

“As well as investigating a range of approaches for flood reduction measures, the scheme is committed to ambitious improvements to the environment, habitat and biodiversity,” said Joe Cuthbertson, Project Director. “To really make this scheme work for the Thames Valley we also need to understand what is important to communities and local businesses.”

The approaches being investigated include:

• large scale floodwater storage in a range of locations;
• natural flood risk management measures such as creating wetlands, improving soil, crop management and planting trees to help retain or slow water;
• engineered flood risk management solutions including flood alleviation channels.

Over the years the Environment Agency and its partners have invested heavily in developing new flood schemes to support those most at risk across the Thames Valley. It recently met its national 6 year target to better protect 300,000 homes from flooding.