future flooding in Wales: flood defences Possible long-term investment scenarios We are Environment Agency Wales. It’s our job to look after your environment and make it a better place – for you, and for future generations. Your environment is the air you breathe, the water you drink and the ground you walk on. Working with the Welsh Assembly Government, business and society as a whole, we are making your environment cleaner and healthier. Environment Agency Wales. Out there, making your environment a better place. Published by: Environment Agency Wales Cambria House 29, Newport Road Cardiff CF24 0TP Tel: 08708 506 506 Email:
[email protected] www.environment-agency.wales.gov.uk © Environment Agency 2010 All rights reserved. This document may be reproduced with prior permission of the Environment Agency. Ministerial Foreword The impacts and consequences of flooding and coastal erosion can be devastating and with one in six properties across Wales at risk of flooding we face significant challenges to ensure we are better prepared and can manage flooding and erosion to minimise the impacts on those at risk. Current climate change predictions outlined in UKCP09 suggest that across Wales and the UK we face significant risks from flooding. As our climate changes, bringing increases in the volume and intensity of rainfall, rising sea levels and increased storminess means that more frequent and more severe flooding events, coupled with intensified coastal erosion, seem inevitable. It is clear that we must reconsider our approach to flooding and coastal erosion in Wales. Simply building more and bigger defences will not be enough, and we need to consider other ways of managing the risk.