Market Rasen, Middle Rasen and Barrow-upon-Humber will benefit from schemes that use nature to reduce flood risk.
The Lincolnshire projects are two of 40 projects around the country awarded a share of the Environment Agency’s £25m Natural Flood Management funding programme.
Around the River Rase, the Lincolnshire Chalk Streams Project has secured £238,500 of funding to continue work in the river’s catchment area to store and slow water as it moves through the system.
Measures including:
- leaky barriers – artificial beaver-style dams that mimic the natural obstruction caused by trees and branches falling into the river;
- field bunds – small mounds of earth that slow down the flow of water across a field or other land area;
- attenuations ponds – artificial ponds that collect excess rain and other fresh water during storms, and;
- scrapes – shallow ponds or ditches of less than a 1m deep which collect excess rain and flood water
will help make Middle Rasen and Market Rasen become more resilient to the effects of climate change.
During the project we will be working with local landowners and farmers. And researchers from the University of Lincoln will help us collect and analyse data so we can assess the scheme’s impact.
We would also like to engage more with schools and the local community to develop novel ways to capture important monitoring information about the Rase.
Up in the north of the county, the project in Barrow-upon-Humber aims to restore the embankment conditions of the chalk stream within Barrow Beck.
The £226,000 funding secured will be used to create attenuation ponds and winter flood storage areas to help hold back excess water at times of heavy rainfall, and prevent it from going down the river and flooding the town.
Woodland planting, blow well enhancements, and leaky barriers at intervals down the beck will also help slow the speed of the water as it passes through the system.
Cllr Colin Davie, executive councillor for environment at Lincolnshire County Council, welcomed the extra funding. He said:
“This nearly half a million pounds of extra funding is allowing us to install innovative measures that use natural processes to make our communities more flood resilient and resistance to climate change. They have the added benefit of promoting biodiversity; protecting and enhancing important natural habitats.
“Around the River Rase catchment area, the land has a steep topography and these nature-based measures will work by storing and slowing water, naturally reducing the flood risk to Middle Rasen, Market Rasen and the surrounding area.
“At Barrow Beck, these new measures will be vital in delaying water gushing into the village during heavy rainfall. As there is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Barrow, it is also important that any measures to enhance the chalk stream are nature based for the ecological benefits this would provide to the wider area.”
Find out more about the Lincolnshire Chalk Streams Project at lincolnshirechalkstreams.org.