Stemming the flood

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Scotland is renowned for the wet stuff, but thanks to flooding legislation, celebrating its first anniversary this month, it's not drowning it in.

On 13 May 2009, the Scottish Parliament passed the most significant change to flooding legislation in 50 years.

The Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 formed a new and more sustainable approach to assessing and managing flooding across Scotland.

It also brought into law the European Directive on the Assessment and Management of Flood Risk (Floods Directive).

And it was a testing year for its introduction with record levels of rainfall in the autumn, devastating the north and south of Scotland.

The legislation aims at "working with nature", dealing with the causes and not just the consequences of flooding, as well as promoting engineering methods of flood prevention.

These include building floodwalls, embankments and large concrete culverts, which environmentalists criticise for merely displacing the problems downstream. However the Act also promotes the use of natural flood management techniques.

Since its implementation, some of the most at-risk areas are already benefiting from new flood warning systems.

In the North East, new systems cover the rivers Dee, Don, Deveron and North Esk. Elsewhere, early warning system, the Nith Flood Alert scheme, has 55 participating properties in Dumfries and Galloway.

The Scottish government has also invested £8.6m in improving SEPA's flood warning service and funds the Scottish Flood Forum.

Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham said: "I've seen first-hand the devastating impact that flooding can have on homes and businesses and that's why I'm delighted to hear that the measures taken by the Scottish government are making a difference to at-risk communities."

Scotland has suffered around 90 major floods in the last decade alone – with incidents predicted to become more frequent unless carbon emissions can be reduced.

She added: "Improving our understanding of flood risk, finding ways to manage it and improving our response are vital to minimise impact on individuals, the environment and the economy."