A £10 million package of flood defence repairs is almost complete, and a further £3 million of funding has been secured, to make communities along the lower River Aire in Yorkshire more resilient to climate change.
The structures, including flood embankments and washlands, were damaged during heavy storms and flooding in 2019/20.
The latest repairs have been completed at Poor Bank near Gowdall where concrete blocks have been installed on the embankment of a reservoir to make it more resilient to erosion.
At Carlton bridge, similar steps have been taken to ensure the river bank is more resilient to flood water.
This week, work began at Chapel Haddlesey where a crane has been brought in to strengthen the flood bank with sheet piling.
The work is expected to take five weeks.
Kimberley MacPherson, West Yorkshire Operations Manager at the Environment Agency said:
“Despite the challenges of the coronavirus and winter flooding during 2020/21, we have managed to deliver a £10 million package of flood repairs to protect communities in the Lower Aire.
“The works were aimed at bringing our defences back up to their required standard of protection, so they can operate as designed during floods. Heavy storms damaged flood defences throughout the area in the winter of 2019/20 and this work ensures local communities will remain resilient to future flooding and climate change.
“I’m delighted that we’ve been able to secure an extra £3m funding to continue this work for the Lower River Aire.”
Timetable of repairs
· Repair work has already been completed at Little Airmyn, West Holme, West Haddlesey, Pickhill, Poor bank, Birkin Barrier bank, Hensall Pumping station, Carlton Bridge, Coates Marsh, Hirst Courtney, Temple Hirst and Lock lane.
· A replacement flood defence wall is currently underway at Newlands, with work due to be completed in the autumn.
· Work at Chapel Haddlesey started at the end of June. Works are required to stabilise the flood bank
· At Heck Ings, work on erosion damage and seepage repairs is due to be completed in the next few weeks.
· Work is ongoing at Hensall Ings Barrier bank. This is to repair an area which has been eroded and return the bank to its required standard of protection.
Poor Bank is upstream of Gowdall and divides Heck Ings Reservoir and Gowdall Ings Reservoir. Carlton Bridge is within the Snaith Ings reservoir.
The flooding on the lower River Aire at the end of February 2020 followed an autumn and winter of exceptional rainfall that had fully saturated the ground and kept river levels high for prolonged periods. It was the wettest February on record for Yorkshire, with the River Aire catchment receiving three and a half times the average monthly rainfall.
River levels responded and the volume of water in the river was such that the washlands filled to capacity and overtopped, to an extent not experienced in recent times.
The Environment Agency worked with partners to minimise the impact of the flooding through the operation of its existing and temporary flood defences and the use of 32 mobile pumps.
Despite these efforts, unfortunately over 100 properties were flooded and many more affected in the communities of Hirst Courtney, Snaith and East Cowick. Many landowners and farmers along the Lower River Aire, and road and travel routes between communities were also impacted.
Since the February 2020 floods, the Environment Agency has been working closely with North Yorkshire County Council, East Riding of Yorkshire Council and the Internal Drainage Board to learn from the floods and plan for the future.
Work has been done with communities to help them become better prepared for any risk of flooding, with improvements made to flood warning and informing, and the recruitment of community flood wardens.
We can never entirely eliminate the risk of flooding. There are a lot of things you can do to prepare and reduce the damage that flooding can cause.
You can check your risk of flooding from rivers, surface water and reservoirs online at www.gov.uk/check-flood-risk.
