Mott MacDonald has been appointed by CIRIA to develop UK guidance on the delivery of natural flood management (NFM) measures.
The company will be working in a consortium including the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust, the River Restoration Centre and the NERC-funded Yorkshire Integrated Catchment Solutions Programme to produce the guide.
Professor Joseph Holden, University of Leeds, director of the Yorkshire Integrated Catchment Solutions Programme (iCASP) commented:
“We are working on multiple NFM projects with a range of partners which has demonstrated the need by NFM practitioners for evidence-based guidance. We are well placed to draw upon our experience as translators of existing research to develop guidance that will support the UK to realise the range of economic, societal and environmental benefits that NFM can bring.”
The project aims to support the delivery of natural flood management solutions by producing accessible and helpful industry guidance on the delivery of NFM measures in the UK. The focus of the guidance is on improving confidence and reducing poor performance of NFM measures.
The project’s objectives include engaging with the wide range of organisations with an interest in NFM and ensuring that UK NFM guidance considers the latest and best available evidence and practical examples.
The consortium will develop guidance on the planning, design, construction and maintenance of NFM to provide both a generic design framework for NFM and detailed guidance on several NFM measures. In addition, the consortium will disseminate the guidance widely to encourage the appropriate delivery of NFM.
A steering group will bring project examples together and guide the production of the manual. They will advise on the portfolio of NFM measures to be included and help source case study material to ensure that a readable, specific and useful document is created.
Emma Wren, principal hydrologist and lead author, Mott MacDonald said:
“I am really excited to have this opportunity to shape the natural flood management landscape. I am passionate about working locally to help address global issues and natural solutions align well with this. It will be fantastic to develop design guidance that practitioners can apply to the wide range of geographies in the UK.”
According to Dan Turner, senior project officer at the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust, over the last few years, natural flood management has been a major focus for the trust - hopefully, the project would help to make local communities at risk more resilient to flooding.
Martin Janes of the River Restoration Centre added:
“We are delighted to be able to help develop this guide; CIRIA publications are incredibly well respected and used. RRC has a lot of experience advising, supporting and producing guidance for understanding, restoring and working with natural processes. This new publication will link to existing guidance and combine and build on the knowledge and experiences from across the country.”
The guide will be published at the end of 2021.
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