Cities in the UK exploit nature to combat growing flood risk

In a creek near Leicester, central England, six volunteers in waterproof overalls and boots, a mini wooden building intended for the fight against growing flood threats.

The city, like many others in the UK, has experienced several intense rainy events in recent years, which has caused significant damage.

Alert to climate change, which enhances these events, the authorities strengthen their defense and turn to solutions that are more sympathetic with the environment.

With their feet tightly planted on a bed of a saffron stream, a tributary of a river passing through Leicester, volunteers ensured that wooden bundles of buildings were safely anchored.

These structures create bandages that “change the behavior of Rijeka” and slow down water in stakeholders where it currently flows “straight and very quickly,” said Dan Scott, who leads the program to Trend Rives Trust, a local group that works on the protection of the river.

He regularly monitors the installation of new facilities.

A few months ago, confidence dug a pond on a river near Loughborough and installed dozens of leaky wooden barriers to better protect the houses downstream that flooded in the past.

These techniques are “complementary to the traditional flood defense”, such as retention of pools and channels that are increasingly under voltage, Scott said.

They “help store some of this water upstream so that those of traditional flood defenses do not overwhelm, and if they do, it is not as quickly as these features were not in place,” he added.

They also help maintain biodiversity.

‘Emergency Problem’

More than 6.3 million real estate threatens floods in the UK, and this figure will increase to more than eight million by 2050, according to a recent Government report.

“Flood is a truly urgent social problem,” said Steven Forest, director of the risk management program of floods at the University of Hulu.

Climate events resulted in insurance payments in the UK more than £ 400 million ($ 532 million) in £ 2022 and more than £ 570 million in 2023 and 2024, half of which were connected to floods, according to the British insurers.

Apart from traditional defenses, “we have to think about life with water and we need to think about integrating water into our urban spaces,” Forest added.

Quoted the Netherlands, which allocates the river space for the drain during heavy rainand the United States, where vegetation “tampon zones” were created after the hurricane Sandy 2012.

“Straight jackets” of the waterways with various infrastructure are no longer sufficient, Forest said, especially since 7% of such structures were estimated to be in “bad” or “very bad” condition by the British Environment Agency 2022.

Overcoming skepticism

But the persuasion of residents and government is not always an easy task because it should often be explained that “just because we have not built a concrete solution, that it will not be so effective,” Scott said.

“It is also a re -education of people in the Government, because it is easier for them to sell something (voters), which is physical and much highlighted in the landscape,” he added.

Traditional events were attracted by a lion’s share of £ 2.6 billion published by the Government in March to finance new flood defense systems over the next two years.

But Scott has noticed a greater interest in natural flood management in the last five years, and the previous government launched a £ 25m program last year.

As a result, Leicester will be able to develop several waterways southeast of the city, and 35 other projects have been selected in England.

“It is encouraging that our successful approach to the natural flood Management measures continue to support, “said Geoff Whittle, a local councilor responsible for the environment, for AFP.

Imagining the fruits of her work in saffron, 50-year-old volunteer Lis Gibbs said to AFP that “you feel like you can make a difference”, unlike climate change in general, which “can feel really overwhelming”.

© 2025 AFP