The Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership is today launching a Water Management Plan in the House of Commons setting out its strategy for water management, including flood reduction and water supply, up till 2040.

With just 613mm of rain per year, the city of Lincoln is drier than Miami, Buenos Aires and Nairobi and receives the same amount of rainfall annually as Cape Town, while much of Greater Lincolnshire is low-lying or reclaimed land prone to coastal flooding. Around 45% (2,843km²) of Greater Lincolnshire lies within the floodplain - representing 17% of England’s total floodplain area.

 The LEP’s Water for Growth Water Management Plan 2015 – 2040 is intended to address the challenge of managing these extremes. The aim of the plan is for Greater Lincolnshire to be seen as a national exemplar for water management in both flood reduction and water supply and to act as an incentive for investors in the LEP’s priority sectors.

According to the Plan, the strength of an existing long-standing partnership working in flood risk management in GreaterLincolnshire provides an opportunity to develop this further and to drive links with organisations responsible for water supply and management.

The LEP believes that close collaboration with the neighbouring Humber LEP, Greater Cambridge and Greater Peterborough LEP, and the New Anglia LEP is essential to achieving this aim.

The plan is divided into three key themes: education, research and training; water provision for growth; and flood risk reduction.

Key issues covered in the Plan include:-

• Setting out the aims and objectives for water management as a driver for economic growth
• Identifying current, emerging and future projects that will secure these aims and objectives
• The water supply challenges for Greater Lincolnshire and the potential construction of major new reservoirs and/ or water distribution infrastructure
• Establishing a ‘pipeline’ of potential bids for funding from a range of sources
• Draws on core actions set out in the three Lead Local Flood Authorities’ Local Flood Risk Management Strategies where these directly contribute to economic growth
• Promoting integration between flood risk and water resource management in terms of focused projects that facilitate economic growth
• Specific opportunities to promote co-operative ventures with neighbouring LEPs

“Greater Lincolnshire has a particular set of challenges, including relatively low rainfall and large areas of low-lying, reclaimed farmland,” said Ursula Lidbetter MBE, Chair of the Greater Lincolnshire LEP.

“It also has a major agrifood sector which relies on effective water management and a long, low-lying coastline which is subject to flood risk – the risk of coastal and river flooding affects up to 45% of the land in Greater Lincolnshire.

“We have long recognised the vital importance of water management for Greater Lincolnshire, which is why we established our Water Management Board and a series of water for growth workshops in 2015.”

“Now we’re ready to share our Water Management Plan, as we believe that the effective management of flood risk and water resources is a critical factor in enabling economic growth across our area.”

Click here to download the LEP’s Water Management Plan 2015-40