Catchment Flood Management Plans - the background
Our new comprehensive approach to flood management should save money, be good for the environment, and keep more people safe from flooding. We'll also give you a chance to have a say in our plans.
Should we build a flood defence near a town and increase the water levels all along the river; or let excess water drain naturally across uninhabited agricultural land?
Sometimes it might be best to increase flooding in one area to reduce it in a more sensitive area. This is just one of the many options we consider when creating our Catchment Flood Management Plans (CFMPs). Instead of just building flood defences, we are looking at land use across a larger area - seeing if we can move the water to where it will do least harm to people and the environment.
The main aims of our Catchment Flood Management Plans are to
- understand the factors that contribute to Flood Risk within a catchment, such as how the land is used
- recommend the best ways of managing the risk of flooding within the catchment over the next 50 to 100 years
- Have your say - take part in your local CFMP consultations
Some organisations will have a greater interest in our work. For example, local councils, conservation organisations, the National Farmers Union, marine organisations and others may be affected by CFMPs. For this reason, you can have a say by taking part in our consultations, found here. They are listed by region. -
CFMP policy guidance (Acrobat, 403KB, 2 mninutes)
Find out more about how we develop our CFMPs.
What is a 'catchment'?
A catchment is an area that serves a river with rainwater. In other words, every part of land where the rainfall drains to a single river is in the same catchment. For this reason, hills and high ground are often the boundaries between catchments - rain falling one side of the hill drains to one river; rain falling the other side drains to another river.
How will we turn the plan into reality?
All land use changes will be decided in full consultation with those affected, such as local authorities which have responsibility for planning permission in these catchments and land owners. We hope to have the majority of our CFMPs written and ready for consultation by 2008.
