Sedgemoor District Council

Climate Change Adaptation Projects

Within or around Sedgemoor

Katherine Schollar 4-2-2020

Contents Somerset Rivers Authority ...... 2 Somerset Drainage Boards Consortium ...... 6 Environment Agency ...... 8 Bridgwater Tidal Barrier ...... 9 Hills to Levels- “Slow the Flow” ...... 10 SuDS- Somerset’s Sustainable Drainage System ...... 12 Adapting the Levels ...... 13 WAVE Project ...... 15 Heart of the South West LEP ...... 16 Gravity ...... 16 National Trust- Porlock Vale, Somerset...... 19 Inland Waterways ...... 20 Somerset Prepared ...... 20

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Somerset Rivers Authority

Annual Overview

An Overview from the Somerset Rivers Authority’s (SRA) Annual Report 2018/19.

 £3.81m extra funding was spent in Somerset on flood risk reduction and greater resilience.  134 places benefitted from drain jetting.  906 tonnes of debris cleared from 32.44 miles of road edgeways.

Work on major projects has included the biggest-yet water injection dredge along the River Parrett, de-silting on King’s Sedgemoor Drain, repairs and improvements at North Drain Pumping Station in the River Brue catchment.

Work on smaller projects has included repairs to the river banks in Frome town centre and along the River Avill Flood Relief Channel at Dunster, extra maintenance activities on West Sedgemoor, Aller Moor and around Sedgemoor, designs for improvements at Westonzoyland and West Sedgemoor Pumping Stations, and investigations at Moorland and Chadmead.

Figure 1: SRA Funding

Figure 2: Map of major project works in Somerset by the SRA.

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Maintenance dredging and silt monitoring

This project is part of 5 year dredging contract for River Parrett. In total, 37,500m3 was removed in just a few days, from Burrowbridge down past Northmoor Pumping Station.

Maintenance dredging on the Parrett is delivered for Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA) by the Parrett Internal Drainage Board (IDB).

Silt monitoring is carried out every spring and autumn along the Parrett and Tone to inform the SRA’s maintenance dredging programme. Works include single beam and multi-beam ‘bathymetric’ (underwater) surveys of the channel bed, and laser scanning of the banks, to measure any changes.

Scientific Studies

Scientific Studies which are being conducted in partnership with the SRA include water injection dredging on the Parrett, which is being studied by scientists from Loughborough and Nottingham universities and ecological surveys alongside this to ensure negligible impacts on wildlife.

Pioneer dredging: Oath to Burrowbridge

This scheme is being led for SRA by the Parrett Internal Drainage Board (IDB), working closely with the Environment Agency and Natural England. The project would help a large area of the Levels including; Aller Moor, King’s Sedgemoor, Moorlinch, Muchelney, Huish Level, Wet Moor, King’s Moor, and Witcombe Bottom.

In total, it could potentially reduce flooding to around 65km2 and benefit around 200 homes. It is proposed to remove 22,000m3 of sediment using conventional methods with long-reach excavators on banks. Sediment will be used to widen banks and strengthen the Southlake reservoir dam wall.

River Sowy-King’s Sedgemoor Drain enhancements

The River Sowy was originally known as the Parrett Flood Relief Channel. It is a man-made river conceived after floods deluged 50,000 acres of Somerset in October 1960.

The drain enhancements are designed to provide more capacity in the Sowy-King Sedgemoor Drain system, so that it can be used more effectively, which is a key aim of Somerset’s 20 Year Flood Action Plan, overseen by Somerset Rivers Authority.

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River Brue Catchment

Work on the River Brue Catchment includes pumping water from the North Drain into the Brue, as and when required, helps to avoid flooding on 9,700 acres of land.

The North Drain Pumping station has also been improved, by removing the pumping station’s 50-year-old leaking and collapsing concrete roof, which has been replaced with a lightweight modern roof. The walls have been repointed, cracks have been stitched together using steel rods and crumbling bricks have been replaced.

A contract has been given to Edenvale Young Associates, who have begun investigating ways of reducing flood risk from the River Brue and South wood Brook.

An SRA contribution will enable a major £1.5 million flood alleviation scheme to go ahead in Highbridge. Led by Wessex Water, the scheme will protect 21 homes in Field Way.

Sedgemoor District

The SRA provided funding to Sedgemoor District Council which was used for extra works to make local flood defence schemes and infrastructure in the Sedgemoor area more effective. A key aim is to deal with issues before they become problems. There were five activities:

 Clearance of an overgrown, congested ditch at Blackford near Wedmore, to help keep the local flood relief scheme working well.  CCTV survey and inspection of surface water system in Bridgwater. The system was found to drain nowhere. Those responsible are now being pressed to complete the drainage works required.  Structural inspection and assessment of sluice structure at Bays Pond in Cheddar. Proactive maintenance works identified and scheduled for 2019-20.  CCTV survey and inspection of flood relief scheme in North Petherton. Culvert-checking found no preventative maintenance works required now.  Structural inspection of damaged culvert in North Petherton. Minor repair works required because of tree growth.

At West Sedgemoor Pumping Station, a plan has been drawn up to install a new trash screen that could be cleared automatically. This move would have three main benefits.

 First, it would protect pump equipment, by stopping material being pulled into the pumping mechanism.  Second, preventing blockages would reduce local flood risks by stopping water backing up.  Third, the Environment Agency would be saved the time, cost and trouble of manually removing weed and debris from the station’s existing trash screen.

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In the past year, the SRA has approved 54 grant applications for natural flood management schemes across Somerset and 131 natural flood management structures and direct land management interventions in 55 different fields.

Figure 3: 2018/19 Summary map of SRA work

For more info on SRA:

Website: https://www.somersetriversauthority.org.uk

Enhanced Work Programme: https://www.somersetriversauthority.org.uk/flood-risk-work/sra-enhanced- programme-works-2019-20/

Annual Report Link: https://www.somersetriversauthority.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2018- 19-Annual-Report-A4-Portrait.pdf

Details on smaller projects are listed in the SRA annual report.

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Somerset Drainage Boards Consortium The Somerset Drainage Board Consortium (SDBC) have been working on SRA-funded plans for bank repairs along Decoy Rhyne. In preparation for this work, surveys have been conducted and preliminary designs have also been drawn up.

In the 2 IDBs within the Sedgemoor area, the Parrett IDB and Axe-Brue IDB there are many assets which require protection from Climate Changes, this includes; a total of 8,474ha of SSSI land and 22,005 homes and businesses.

Parrett IDB

The Southlake Favourable Condition Project, was the first wetland restoration scheme completed by the Parrett IDB. The project has restored 200ha of floodplain grazing marsh on the Somerset Levels to favourable condition, whilst also providing improved water level management for farming, enhanced flood storage and a valuable education resource.

Figure 4: Southlake Moor in winter 09/10

Also, The Parrett IDB carried out extra maintenance of viewed rhynes on West Sedgemoor and Aller Moor. The work on West Sedgemoor covered 20.171 kilometres (12.5 miles), on Aller Moor 9.658 km (6 miles).

For More Information: https://somersetdrainageboards.gov.uk https://somersetdrainageboards.gov.uk/environment/projects/

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Figure 5: Satellite image map showing the extent of Axe-Brue IDB’s work in 2018/19

Figure 6: A satellite image map showing the extent of the Parrett IDB’s work 2018/19, in red. 7

Environment Agency

In 2014, after the floods, the Environment Agency spent £6million on pioneer-dredging 8km (5 miles) of the Parrett and Tone. The pioneer dredges in 2014 and 2015 removed 248,500m3 of silt. The EA also completed work for the SRA, just outside of Dunster. Repairs were made to the River Avill Flood Relief Channel which runs from the edge of Dunster under the A39, and under a West Somerset Railway bridge, down to the sea.

The EA published their first adaptation report under the Climate Change Act 2011, and have already delivered 90% of the 200 actions that the report set out.

Cannington Flood Alleviation Scheme:

Cannington Flood Alleviation Scheme created a relief channel to divert flood water away from Cannington and better protect 200 homes and the A39. Three Hydro-Brake flow control structures were installed along with CCTV and hydrometry / telemetry equipment.

Climate Ready Support Service

The EA provide the government’s Climate Ready Support Service to enable other organisations to increase their resilience to a changing climate. The service has contributed significantly to resilience by translating complex issues into guidance and tools that connects with its different audiences.

For More Information: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/526000/climat e-adrep-environment-agency.pdf https://www.somersetriversauthority.org.uk/flood-risk-work/sra-annual-report-2018-19/w1-dredging-river- management/case-study-cannington-flood-alleviation-scheme/ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adapting-to-climate-change-for-risk-management-authorities

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Bridgwater Tidal Barrier

The Environment Agency and Sedgemoor District Council are the lead authorities on the Bridgwater Tidal Barrier, working in partnership with the SRA, HotSW LEP and MHCLG. The Barrier will reduce tidal flood risks to 11,300 homes and 1,500 businesses. Its current estimated cost is £100 million but its benefits are valued at £1,331 million.

Bridgwater Tidal Barrier will be located between Express Park and Chilton Trinity village. It will have two vertical lift gates and is expected to be operational in 2024, subject to funding and statutory approvals.

Figure 7: Projection of the plans of the Bridgwater Barrier.

The scheme includes improvements to existing downstream primary flood defences along the River Parrett together with new secondary defences in the flood plain.

The barrier and downstream defences are being designed to protect Bridgwater and nearby communities for the next 100 years, against tides that have a 0.5% chance of occurring in any year.

Somerset County Council and Sedgemoor District Council submitted a bid for funding to the Housing Infrastructure Funding in March 2019. The Transport and Works Act Order has been submitted to Defra and is in the representation period until mid-February 2020. The TWAO is the means through which legal powers can be granted to construct the scheme. It is required due to restrictions on navigation on the River Parrett when the barrier is closed.

For More Information: https://www.sedgemoor.gov.uk/bridgwaterbarrier https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bridgwater-tidal-barrier-progress

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Hills to Levels- “Slow the Flow”

The Hills to Levels Project is about using nature-based and land management solutions to tackle flooding problems affecting towns, villages, homes and roads in the upper catchments of the Tone, Parrett, Brue, Axe, Frome in Somerset and West Somerset Streams

 Design and implementation of 30 small-scale and natural flood management capital works to detain water in the upper catchment and reduce peak flows.  Increase uptake of soil management techniques and cropping changes which improve the infiltration of water and reduce run-off across approximately 50 farms. This includes split field trials, soil husbandry reports and workshops.  Respond to 50 referrals of highway flooding problems where land management could help to provide a solution. Referrals are made by Somerset County Council as the Lead Local Flood Authority.  Following the successful trial of a new online auction system in summer 2018 (one winning bidder is pictured below), run a second online auction in 2019-20 to engage more land managers and encourage more bids for Natural Flood Management measures that deliver enhanced land management changes.  Modelling at sub-catchment scale to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Natural Flood Management measures that have already been installed.

IN April 2018, Hills to Levels won the UK River Prize for 2018. The UK River Prize celebrates people and organisations that improve rivers and catchments, and seek to create a healthy natural environment.

Supported by a range of different funding bodies (the Somerset Rivers Authority, Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership, The European Development Fund, Water Environment Improvement Fund WFD GiA)

For Further Information: https://www.fwagsw.org.uk/hills-to-levels

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Figure 8: Summary infographic of the work done as part of the ‘Hills to Levels’ project.

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SuDS- Somerset’s Sustainable Drainage System

Somerset’s Sustainable Drainage Systems, have currently been funding for projects across the county. In SuDS inspections sites were assessed to ascertain whether they were adequately designed, constructed as designed, have any deficiencies, and are being adequately maintained. Run-off was considered in detail. Generally, in terms of being able to cope with basic flows of water, and allowing for climate change, over three-quarters of the sites surveyed were satisfactory or better.

An SRA-funded SuDS Inspections service has allowed local councils to check sites while they are being built. Learning lessons from the SuDS Review, team members have been fine-tuning checklists and reporting mechanisms.

The production of Somerset-specific guidance for property developers, helped them create high quality, multi-benefit, integrated SuDS at new sites across the county. The aim is to have detailed guidance completed by spring 2020 for adoption by Somerset’s Local Planning Authorities.

SuDS have not been used enough in Somerset in highway situations, but there is increasing evidence from elsewhere that they compare favourably with traditional underground engineered solutions. One or more sites in Taunton Deane will be chosen. It is also planned to show how SuDS can improve water quality, provide new habitats for wildlife and make places more pleasant to live and work.

Sponge 2020

Sponge 2020 is a project partnership between Dutch, British and Flemish local government and water authorities to co-create and implement innovative climate change adaptation solutions, such as Sustainable Urban Drainage (SuDS) with local stakeholders.

For more Information: https://www.somerset.gov.uk/waste-planning-and-land/sustainable-drainage-in-somerset/ https://www.somerset.gov.uk/waste-planning-and-land/project-sponge-2020/

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Adapting the Levels

Co-Adapt

Co-Adapt is an international project with the aim of getting local people and organisations co-operating and adapting to the water-related effects of climate change. Co-Adapt will also help to encourage greater resilience to drought on nearly 10 square miles of the Somerset Levels. Co-Adapt is part of the EU’s Interreg 2 programme.

The main partners locally are FWAG SW, Somerset Wildlife Trust, Somerset County Council, the National Trust and Devon County Council (as the accountable body for the Blackdown Hills AONB Partnership)

Co-Adapt investments will result in:

 2500 hectares on the Somerset Levels being better adapted for flooding and drought, with improved accessibility to five moors and three structures adapted to deliver more naturally functioning water management with less reliance on traditional engineering techniques.  An adapted water management regime on 1500 hectares to manage flooding using natural processes rather than pump drainage, saving €200,000+ in a major flood event.

Adapting the Levels

The Adapting the Levels project is working with policy makers, infrastructure experts, landowners, farmers and communities to jointly develop adaptation plans to ensure the Levels are ready to cope with future threats brought about by climate change. The project will run until 2022, and Co-Adapt has invested in it.

Partners:

• Somerset County Council

• Somerset Wildlife Trust

• Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group South West

• Somerset Rivers Authority

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Key Aims:

• Increase awareness of the need to adapt to climate change.

• Empower communities and land owners to work together and take action.

• Provide funding for natural solutions for water management.

• Provide capital grants to farmers for adaptive measures.

• Explore the effectiveness of flood plain management.

• Develop adaptation pathways for the Levels and Moors.

The project will be hosting community meetings. Both of these events provide: information about climate projections and what this would mean for local people, and how managing water more naturally could help protect the area, interactive models and ways for people to share their knowledge, ideas and experiences.

Community Meetings

Climate Change Adaption Drop In

• Wedmore Village Hall

• Saturday 1st February 2020

Climate Change Adaption Drop In

• Langport Ridgeway Hall

• Saturday 29th February 2020

For More Information: https://www.adaptingthelevels.com/ https://co-adapt.squarespace.com/ https://www.fwagsw.org.uk/co-adapt-project

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WAVE Project

WAVE – “Water Adaptation is Valuable for Everybody” – is a partnership project supported by EU Interreg IVB funding. Through WAVE, organisations in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Somerset are working together to prepare for changes to water systems caused by climate change and help make these systems more ‘climate-resilient’.

Somerset partners in WAVE are; Somerset County Council, Environment Agency, Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Somerset Drainage Boards Consortium (SDBC) and Somerset Wildlife Trust (SWT).

As part of the Somerset WAVE project JBA Consulting have undertaken some new broad scale hydraulic modelling of flood risk across the study area, covering; Fluvial flooding, Tidal flooding and Surface water flooding.

Hydraulic models are computer simulation tools that are used to represent the real physical characteristics of a catchment or coastal area and the hydrological elements and processes acting on them which drive the fundamental causes and consequences of any flooding that take place. The models that are built, tested and validated using a range of datasets from the study area can then be used to explore a whole suite of flood magnitudes and other scenarios in order to map the extent and depth of any flooding that is generated.

The modelling of flood extents and flood depths for particular flood event magnitudes, including possible climate change effects, is a fundamental part of the Environment Agency’s strategic flood risk management planning process which includes the production of Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) and Catchment Flood Management Plans (CFMPs). Click here to find out more about strategic flood risk management planning.

Existing fluvial and tidal flood models of the Somerset WAVE area have been revised, updated and adapted to generate new flood extent and flood depth maps for a range of flood magnitudes, both for the present day and for the future year 2060 taking account of the projected climate change impacts. The scenarios modelled included both the defended (with the existing flood defences in place and maintained to the present day levels), and undefended (with the existing flood defences removed) situations.

For More Information: http://www.somersetwave.co.uk/

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Heart of the South West LEP

Gravity Gravity is the former Huntspill Energy Park which is being transformed into an innovation campus – a new era of enterprise zone. The 635 acre site, named Gravity, will be an immersive, connected, intelligent and sustainable environment that will attract some of the world’s most innovative businesses, drawing inward investment internationally and nationally.

Purpose built, diverse workspaces and resilient technologies will be set against an established natural landscape – supporting a culture of innovation and well-being that blurs the boundaries between work and play. Gravity will be designed to shape connections between people and the places they work for a cleaner, sustainable future.

With its onsite energy and water solutions, dark fibre, excellent transport links and local talent pool, this smart campus provides occupiers with the ability to build, expand, develop and move faster and more efficiently.

From low-cost, low-carbon power generators to more efficient farms; from innovators creating better batteries to the factories putting them in less polluting cars; from builders improving our homes so they are cheaper to run to helping businesses become more productive. Gravity will be one of the most sustainable innovation campuses in Europe.

Figure 9: External Design for Gravity.

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Figure 10: Internal Design for Gravity.

For More Information:

https://thisisgravity.co.uk/why-gravity/

Natural Capital Project

The Natural Capital project is by the HotSW LEP along with Sedgemoor District Council, Somerset County Council and Devon County Council. They produced a document ‘Investing in Natural Capital for the HotSW’, to help people understand the value of natural capital within our region. With the aim to ensure that natural life is preserved along with the added bonus of economic development through strategic investment in natural capital.

- Promote the HotSW as the place to invest in Natural capital

- Collate and monitor the condition of natural capital assets across the region

- Develop and implement a nature recovery network

Included in the document were Investment opportunities such as Frogmary Green Farm, in South Somerset. Where an anaerobic digester recycles farm waste into energy for the farm and grid and provides fertiliser.

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Somerset Energy Innovation Centre

Based in Bridgwater, the Somerset Energy Innovation Centre is a hub for ambitious businesses seeking to collaborate and exploit opportunities in the low carbon and nuclear energy sectors. It offers business support and low carbon supply chain expertise to identify live opportunities and develop its tenants’ capabilities to secure new contracts and supply the growing sector.

It uses local produce to keep low-carbon with in-house catering supplied by Somerset Larder.

Growing a low carbon economy is at the heart of what we do and the building design, construction and operation reflects this. The Centre has attained the internationally recognised BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology) Excellent standard. BREEAM measures the sustainable value of a series of categories, including energy, ecology, travel, waste and water.

Figure 11: Somerset Energy Innovation Centre

For More Information: https://www.somersetenergyinnovationcentre.co.uk/

National College for Nuclear

This project creates facilities to meet the training needs of Hinkley Point C through redeveloping and extending existing facilities, demolition and new build, and investment in equipment, plant and machinery. It meets the needs of employers and learners as well as providing a legacy for future training needs of employers and learners as well as providing a legacy for future training needs both regionally and nationally. Extensive work with EDF energy and its supply chain has highlighted specific training needs including steel fixing and form working, plant operations, and engineering as well as wider skills to support the major infrastructure impact of this project.

For More Information: https://www.ncfn.ac.uk/

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National Trust- Porlock Vale, Somerset. The short, steep streams of the Porlock Vale respond rapidly to rainfall events, and pose a flood risk to settlements in the lower catchment. The project aims to slow the flow, increase infiltration and reconnect the rivers with the floodplain. Building on habitat creation at Holnicote, in-stream improvements will support eels and brook lampreys, while riparian habitat management will support otters, and the resident bat population that forage and breed in the catchment.

In addition, the project will help slow water runoff from the uplands of Exmoor using natural flood management methods in the Porlock Vale streams, and reconnect rivers with their floodplains in other areas. More than 400,000 people live within the catchment areas and over 3.6 million live within 10 miles. Initially, nine National Trust properties will be involved in the project.

Riverlands is part of the Trust’s wider objective to restore 25,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitats by 2025. More than one in ten of the UK’s wildlife species are threatened with extinction, according to the 2016 State of Nature report.

Exmoor River’s Reset

The scheme, the first of its kind in the UK, has been inspired by projects in the north-west of the US, in which rivers and streams have been encouraged to flow through multiple channels, pools and shallow riffles as they would have done before mankind arrived and began moulding them into shapes to suit farming and settlement.

The scheme is located at the National Trust’s Holnicote Estate called Mud Pool Meadow.

Though the National Trust scheme is in its infancy, peregrine falcon and deer have already been spotted returning to the spot, and the hope is that wading birds such as the curlew will be tempted to the site. It should also help a population of water voles that have been re-introduced to Exmoor.

Figure 12: Porlock Vale

For More Information: https://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/Whats-Special/rivers-and-streams

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Inland Waterways Inland Waterways have been installing and updating telemetry and SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems, generating a targeted long-term dataset and undertaking regular risk assessments in preparation for the increased winter precipitation which will be caused by climate change.

They are also looking into other energy possibilities for boats, though they are a mode of transport with a lower contribution of greenhouse emissions than both road and rail alternatives. The range of alternatives includes biofuels and fuel cell technology. Another ‘alternative fuel’ option for craft is the development of electric boats. For a number of years the Environment Agency and British Waterways have been encouraging the use of electric boats by offering a 20% or 25% reduction in licence fees for electric craft and through investment in hook-up pillars to provide charging points.

As well as this, Inland Waterways have been looking into the development of low-weight vehicles, whether it would be possible to introduce a target in emissions reduction for the navigation sector as well as the possibility of having an exhaust emission test for all craft as part of the four yearly BSS exam (similar to an MOT).

For More Information https://www.waterways.org.uk/pdf/iwac/climate_change_and_the_inland_waterways

Somerset Prepared Somerset Prepared is a multi-agency partnership working closely with communities to deliver advice, support and training to help enhance local resilience to emergencies. Recent work that Somerset Prepared have been involved with include:

 Somerset’s first resilience day, which was part funded by the SRA  A pilot survey on household resilience which was held in Misterton  A Flood Insurance Survey, carried out for the SRA by the Community Council of Somerset.

For More Information: https://www.somersetprepared.org.uk/

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