The Welsh Government has said that it is neither affordable or sustainable to defend the entire Welsh coast and that a risk-based approach must be taken instead to flood and coastal erosion management.
The comments form part of the first part of the Review of the coastal flooding in December 2013 and January 2014 carried out by Natural Resources Wales which has just been published by the Welsh Government.
Launching the Review, Alun Davies, the Welsh Assembly Minister for Natural Resources and Food said:
“Despite cuts in funding from the UK Government, Welsh Government is increasing its flood and coastal erosion budgets. We are investing over £240 million in flood and coastal defences over the life of this Government. In addition to this we will receive over £50 million from the European Regional Development Fund, reducing the risks for over 7,000 homes and businesses across Wales.”
Sea level rise and climate change will mean that such severe storms will become more frequent and have an increasing impact upon our shoreline. We must acknowledge that it is not affordable or sustainable to defend the entire Welsh coast. Instead we must take a risk-based approach to our work in flood and coastal erosion management, building resilience around our coasts and working with others to respond to these challenges.
Natural Resources Wales has been co-ordinating the all Wales review, which is in two parts, of the impacts, costs and lessons learnt.
Phase 1 has looked at impacts across Wales from coastal flooding and the state of the coastal defences following the storms.
Phase 2 which will be published in April, will look into the wider lessons learnt including:
- further details of the flood event, its modelling and forecasting
- operational response from flood risk management authorities
- how defences performed, properties affected and estimates of those protected.
Phase 1 has pulled together information from all affected local authorities and has focussed on the impacts, damage and the costs of repair and restoration of the coastal defences. It also considered the areas protected - properties and land that did not flood as a consequence of the national network of coastal protection and defence infrastructure.
Commenting on Phase 1, the Welsh Assembly said:
“Whilst damage has been substantial, less than 1% of coastal properties and agricultural land at potential risk experienced flooding during these storms. This was due to substantial investment in flood and coastal protection around the Welsh coast, improved forecasting, awareness and resilience to flooding in our communities.”
The Welsh Government has announced total funding for flood repairs of over £4.6 million in this financial year, including £2 million for emergency repairs announced on 22nd January and a further £1 million of grant funding last week to help restore the coastal protection damaged during the storms.
In addition to the £4.6m package of support for this financial year, the Welsh Government is also considering funding options to address the remaining costs for coastal repairs identified in the review over and above those flood risk management schemes already planned for 2014/15.
During the flooding that occurred in December, 155 properties, predominantly in Rhyl, were flooded with a further 150 properties affected in January. Coastal defence structures were damaged at over 150 locations and over 1400 properties were evacuated around Wales.
The assessment of the number of properties protected from coastal flooding shows:
In excess of 24,000 properties could potentially have flooded across the North Wales coast in December and;
In excess of 50,000 Welsh properties could potentially have flooded during January;
Approximately 34,000ha of agricultural land was protected in January.
Estimates from local authorities and NRW have revealed that the cost to make immediate repairs to coastal defences is around £8.1million. In addition to the costs to repair defences, local authorities have identified other costs associated with damage caused by the storms at around £3million.
Despite cuts in funding from the UK Government, Welsh Government is increasing its flood and coastal erosion budgets and iinvesting over £240 million in flood and coastal defences over the life of this Government. In addition to this the Government will also receive over £50 million from the European Regional Development Fund.
Click here to download the Phase 1 Report
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