There is a good level of understanding of the local hydrological effects of most NFM measures. However, the wider hydrological impacts of NFM measures at the catchment scale are less clear. This topic includes research on the effects of NFM, as well as research that supports delivery, such as social research on land managers attitudes to NFM or barriers to implementation. Scientific research is available in all forms and scales, for example, from empirical studies to new modelling tools and from the plot scale to the full catchment scale.
A report has been produced by the Environment Agency that evaluates their Natural Flood Management programme. Between 2017 and 2021, £15 million of government funding was invested in 60 pilots across England. The report looks at 4 phases of NFM project lifecycle; a) Partnership working, b) Valuing benefits and project assessment, c) Project implementation and d) monitoring and sustaining the benefits.
Are you interested in researching natural flood management? We're currently advertising a PhD focussed on land use change and natural flood management at the Eddleston NFM pilot site in the Scottish Borders. A great opportunity for someone with a background in geoscience, geography, engineering or related areas, as well as an interest in fieldwork, to work at one of the UK's longest running NFM pilot sites! For more information please visit the IAPETUS2 doctoral training programme at the link provided.
Scottish Government's Eddleston Water project was Highly Commended in the annual Nature of Scotland Awards in Edinburgh last month. Project Managers, Tweed Forum, along with partners in SEPA, Dundee university and BGS joined other colleagues at the ceremony which recognised the impact of thir long-running study of the effectiveness of NFM measures to reduce flood risk and improve riparian habitats at the catchment scale.
The Eddleston Water study has just produced its second comprehensive report, covering work upto 2021. Building on the earlier 2016 report, as well as published papers in the intervening period, this brings together key results since 2010 across all areas of monitoring and modeling of the effectiveness of Natural Flood Management (NFM) measures that have been implemented across the 69km2 catchment in the Scottish Borders. This includes planting over 330,000 native trees, creating 115 high-flow log-structures, remeandering 3.5km of channel and creating 38 flood storage ponds.
A paper has just been published in the international journal, Water focussing on lessons learned from 12 years of monitoring of Scottish Government’s Eddleston Water study. The paper reviews the monitoring strategy and assesses how the monitoring networks developed meet its strategic aims, and what and why subsequent changes have been made in monitoring design and implementation.
The Forestry Commission, Scottish Forestry, Natural Resources Wales and Northern Ireland Forest Service have published a new UK-wide guide outlining how our forests and woodlands can reduce the damaging effects and financial impact of flooding on vulnerable communities. Woodlands can play a key role in flood mitigation and make an important contribution to reducing downstream flood risk.
A new open access book entitled “Spatial Flood Risk Management: Implementing Catchment-based Retention and Resilience on Private Land” has been published. Centralising the role of land and landowners, the book brings together knowledge from socio-economy, public policy, hydrology, geomorphology, and engineering to establish an interdisciplinary knowledge base on spatial approaches to managing flood risks. It contains chapters from over 25 different European authors and is an output from the EU funded COST action "Natural Flood Retention on Private Land".
A manual supporting the implementation of Natural Flood Management measures has been published by CIRIA. It aims to set out the key stages in the delivery process of NFM. The manual has five parts which cover an overview of NFM, the philosophy behind NFM, detailed information behind a selection of measures, the delivery process and a supporting appendices. The manual can be accessed via the link below.
A new policy note has been published by the Centre of Expertise for Waters on "Better Buffer Design, Placement and Management". The publication was produced by the James Hutton Institute and examines how considering an enhanced range of designs, and targeting them to most suitable landscapes and pressures on the environment, can be achieved to improve multiple outcomes (e.g. flood management), including aspects of wider context for improving the uptake of enhanced riparian measures. Many of the measures presented here could be viewed as Natural Flood Management approaches.
The Scottish Government’s Dynamic Coast project took a major step forward this year, with the publication of new research on coastal change across Scotland. DynamicCoast.com has been updated to reflect the latest science, outputs and tools now available for partners to use in NFM, resilience and adaptation planning. The work was funded via CREW and the St Andrews Links, the research was conducted by the University of Glasgow and managed by NatureScot.