EWCO - Flood Risk Management

Spatial data supporting appropriately located and designed woodland creation to help reduce flood risk by slowing flood flows and increasing the retention and infiltration of water on the land.

The layer shows where there is ‘Opportunity for Floodplain’ woodland creation and ‘Opportunity for Wider Catchment’ woodland creation.

Appropriately located and designed proposals can help reduce flood risk by slowing flood flows and increasing the retention and infiltration of water on the land by creating; woodland in the wider catchment – creating woodland here can help to, reduce fertiliser and pesticide usage, protect sensitive soils from disturbance and erosion, increase infiltration and reduce water runoff and intercept sediment and chemical pollutants in run-off, reducing the delivery of pollutants to watercourses.

Floodplain woodland – creating woodland here can act as a permeable partial barrier to a river when in flood, helping to slow flood flows.

Riparian woodland – creating woodland along watercourses can create a buffer between rivers and the adjacent land, reducing water temperature by providing shade and slowing flood flow water delivery to watercourses.

Cross-slope woodland – creating smaller areas (typically shelterbelts) of woodland (all types) across hill slopes can reduce rapid runoff from higher land. Trees also encourage infiltration and increase the soil’s water storage capacity.

Data input sources:

• Spatial prioritisation of catchments suitable for Natural Flood Management (Environment Agency)
• Flood Map for Planning (Rivers and Sea) - Flood Zone 3 (Environment Agency)
• Soil-derived spatial prioritisation of woodland creation for NFM in the wider catchment (Forest Research)

Attributes: ‘LANDSCAPE’ – the targeting category: Opportunity for Floodplain Woodland / Opportunity for Wider Catchment Woodland. ‘AreaHa’ – Area of the feature in hectares.