An update from Devon County Council’s Flood and Coastal Risk Management Team.
Find out about what we have been doing over the last 6 months as part of Devon’s Local Flood Risk Management Strategy.
A copy of the full Strategy can be found on ourwebsite.
Our Vision
To be a leading authority in the management and reduction of flood risk in the County of Devon. We will work efficiently and collaboratively with our partners and engage with communities to make Devon more resilient to flooding and ready to adapt to climate change by promoting sustainable flood risk management and using natural solutions where possible. In response to the climate and ecological emergency, flood risk infrastructure will play its part in achieving a net-zero carbon Devon and protecting and enhancing the natural environment – indeed natural flood risk management solutions will be considered before hard engineering. Additionally, flood risk infrastructure will take opportunities to improve communities’ access to and enjoyment of green spaces, and to conserve and enhance local landscape and heritage assets.
Flood and Coastal Risk Management Team News
Over the last 6 months, the team have been involved in flood recovery activities following the flood events that affected southern and eastern areas of Devon during named Storm Ciarán in November and the River Axe area in December 2023. The latest Section 19 reports are available on our website.
The team have also been working hard on developing flood studies and improvement works following on from the flooding throughout 2023, Natural Flood Management (NFM) and the Devon Resilience Innovation Project (DRIP), in addition to fulfilling other statutory duties to provide land drainage consents and supporting the Local Planning Authorities with sustainable drainage expertise
Flood Incidents
2nd – 3rd November 2023 Storm Ciarán
Between 2nd and 3rd November 2023, Storm Ciarán swept through Devon with strong winds and intense rainfall. Significant flooding was experienced in a few isolated parts of Devon as a result. Watercourses overtopped and drainage systems became overwhelmed from large amounts of surface water runoff. Ide in Teignbridge was the worst affected area with 6 properties internally flooded. In total, across the county, 20 properties suffered internal flooding as a result of the storm.
(Photo of River Otter at Tipton St John on 2nd November 2023)
4th – 9th December 2023 River Axe Flooding
On 4th and 7th December, significant flooding was experienced across the River Axe catchment. The River Axe overtopped its banks on both dates with some properties experiencing deep internal flooding on both occasions, the worst affected receiving 1.5m flood depths internally. 23 properties reported internal flooding with 20 in Axminster and 3 in Musbury primarily from the River Axe.
Photo of flooding in Axminster showing the Axe floodplain and B3261 road inundated with floodwater on 7 December 2023 (photo credit: Local Resident received via Environment Agency).
18th – 22nd May 2024
Thunderstorms led to localised flooding in Wilmington (East Devon) and Tavistock (West Devon) in May with properties unfortunately experiencing internal flooding in both communities. Investigations into the extent of the incidents remain ongoing.
Photo of floodwaters running down the A35 in Wilmington in May 2024 (Photo credit: Local Resident)
Report flooding to your property on the Flood Online Reporting Tool, FORT
If you are aware of any flooding in your area and not had the opportunity to discuss this with us, then please report the incident on the Flood Online Reporting Tool (FORT). We use this to gather and record information about flooding that has taken place, in particular when internal flooding of a property has occurred. Alternatively you can contact us through the floodrisk@devon.gov.uk mailbox.
Flooding, including muddy flood water or soil erosion from local land entering the water system should also be reported to the Environment Agency Incident Hotline number: 0800 807060. It is a freephone number and is available 24/7. For more information on who to contact during or after a flood event please refer to our website
Defra Six Year Programme 2021-2027
We are now in the fourth year of Defra’s £5.2bn 6-year programme for flood and coastal erosion risk management, with a target of better protecting 336,000 properties across the country. We cannot tackle this on our own, so there is a reliance on collaboration with all Risk Management Authorities including the Environment Agency, water companies, Unitary, County and District Councils and Highways. Each authority has their part to play in tackling the many sources of flood risk to achieve the target set.
Flood Improvement Projects
DCC continue working on the delivery of flood improvement schemes to make Devon more resistant and resilient to flooding. We are working with our consultants to investigate and develop schemes that subject to funding, will be delivered over the coming funding window up to 2027 and beyond.
Barnstaple West
The PFR works to better protect 40 residential properties who suffered from surface water flooding in August of 2020 has now commenced the construction phase. It is hoped that the works will be complete prior to the summer holidays in 2024.
Investigations post 2023 flooding
Following the unprecedented flooding that occurred in 2023 we have engaged with our consultants and commissioned a number of studies to determine the scale of the risk and determine whether any cost-effective solutions could be identified and promoted.
As a result, investigations have commenced in Burrow (Newton Poppleford), Venn Ottery, Kenton, Cullompton and Harberton. We will liaise directly with the relevant communities as the investigations develop.
Devon Resilience Innovation Project
The Devon Resilience Innovation Project (DRIP) is one of 25 projects in the country funded by Defra as part of the flagship £150 million Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme to develop and test new approaches to flood resilience.
Devon County Council and 18 partners have been awarded over £7 million of funding over a 6-year period (April 2021 – March 2027) to deliver flood resilience pilot projects in rapid response catchments in Devon. Many of the communities selected would not typically be high priority within the local flood risk management strategy due to the low numbers of properties at risk. It is a unique project to help neighbourhoods be better prepared for and able to recover more quickly from flooding by improving community resilience. The project is trialling resilience interventions in combination, which include
helping communities to identify flood risk issues, develop emergency plans and be ready to activate them
slowing the flow of water and storing water in the river catchment through natural flood management measures
providing localised flood forecasting alerts and other smart technologies to the community to improve preparation time for flood events
protecting community assets such as village halls and local shops to provide communities with shelter and resources during flood events
The project is now into the delivery phase with DCC and project partners working with communities to install a range of flood resilience measures. We continue to work closely with our partners to share learning from the innovative projects being carried out. To keep up to date on latest project progress, follow the DRIP Instagram and Facebook (@devonfloodresilience). We also produce a quarterly newsletter which you can subscribe to here: Devon County Council (govdelivery.com) or check the latest news section of our website: www.devon.gov.uk/drip
Installation of works is progressing in Devon County Council DRIP Project NFM pilot areas. We have seen the completion of the first field scale series of natural flood management interventions in Stokeinteignhead, which comprise leaky dams, an area of wet woodland, and various linear and regular scrapes and wet shelves. The installations are arranged over three adjoining fields in order to provide a comprehensive testing area, on which to monitor changes in flow and surface water infiltration over the next three years. Our PhD students from the Universities of Plymouth and Exeter are carrying out the monitoring. They have visited the site over several weeks and positioned sensors, rain gauges and trail cameras to monitor flow changes in response to rainfall. Stokeinteignhead community have been very communicative and interested in their response to the proposed measures and we are extremely grateful to the landowner in question, without whom this work could not have been completed. Please see the video we have created about the work in Stokeinteignhead here: Stokeinteignhead – YouTube
The very wet winter and spring has been the cause of delay in installation of other measures in our other pilot areas. It has been impractical for landowners to install dams in water courses which are in spate for much of the time, and essential farming and forestry works have taken priority in the short periods of good weather that we have experienced this season. Crucially, PhD students have been able to site monitoring equipment in Exton to establish a baseline of water movement in these areas of the catchment before installation. Without these baseline measurements, there can be no comparison with changes in water movement after NFM measures are installed. Now that it appears we are moving into dryer sunnier weather, we anticipate proposed schemes for South Pool and Exton to progress as planned.
We have also produced a video showcasing the NFM work carried out in the Little Dart catchment by one of our project partners, North Devon Biosphere: Little Dart (youtube.com)
Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS)
The SuDS team continue to provide consultation advice to Local Planning Authorities. Devon County Council are including SuDS within new schemes such as roads. The new Kitterford Cross roundabout has incorporated an above-ground feature adjacent to the roundabout. The North Devon Link Road Works are aiming to use a variety of features, including filter drains.
Photo of newly constructed swale serving the footpath/cycle path adjacent to the A379 in SW Exeter. This feature still needs to establish with vegetation.
Funding and Community Support
The Devon Community Resilience Forum
In March, the Devon Community Resilience Forum hosted the Whole Society Resilience event ‘Devon Prepared’. Community representatives, individuals and professional partners came together from across Devon to explore whole society resilience and discuss how we can best harness community power to plan, prepare and recover from emergencies in Devon
Twitter: @DevComsTogether #devonresilience
Devon residents discuss community resilience at the ‘Devon Prepared’ resilience forum event at the Kenn Centre, 22nd March 2024
This unique event included panel discussions from industry experts, breakout discussions and workshops, from setting up emergency rest centres and flood resilience to public health and climate change and adaptation.
Funding for community resilience
Applications are now open for 2024/2025. Community groups can apply to the Devon Community Resilience Forum for support with developing or updating their emergency plan, resilience equipment or small scale works. Please contact the forum or the Flood and Coastal Risk Management team for advice or discuss any ideas you and your community have.
You’ve Got a Friend: Saving the Kit Brook Case Study
We all need friends. And it’s no different if you are a river! Someone to watch over you. In June 2021 the Kit Brook – a flashy little river in the heart of the Blackdown Hills – sent 5 inches of rain charging down the valley in two hours flooding a dozen homes, carrying away a few hens and a handful of bridges as it galloped to join the River Axe within the Special Area of Conservation.
Step forward the Kit Brook River Restoration team, a group of local residents who recognised that if you want something done, do it yourself. But what to do and where to start?
Joining the East Devon Catchment Partnership proved a good first move, closely followed by starting water quality monitoring using the Westcountry Rivers Trust citizen science methodology, and Riverfly Partnership freshwater invertebrate surveys. The Catchment Partnership put the team in touch with expert advice, and monthly water quality monitoring got ordinary people out connecting with the river.
And from there – and with financial assistance from Devon County Council and new relationships with local landowners – to natural flood management. 2023 saw the installation of a run of 15 leaky dams and two ponds slowing the flow in a side channel to the main river – and holding sediment on the land. Since then, volunteer working parties have laboured alongside a contractor to build more leaky dams and woody debris from the headwaters to the lower reaches.
But it’s not all about flood prevention interventions. Community lies at the heart of the project, and hooking people into caring for their river has seen a series of river walks, riverbank lessons for the local primary school, community gatherings with the imaginative names of River Café and Nature’s Table as well as a bringing together of residents and local farmers for a chinwag. You see when you are a river these days you need all the friends you can get – and the Kit Brook knows we’ve got her back.
If you would like to find out more – or want to protect your river but aren’t sure where to start – contact thekitbrook@gmail.com.
Useful Information
The following documents provide useful information and guidance:
