Category Archives: Uncategorized

Oxfordshire Under Water

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The County Council hosted a flood summit, Oxfordshire Under Water, on 29 November – good timing given the recent emergency. Because of climate change we’re experiencing rainfall events unlike anything we’ve seen before. So how do we improve our resilience to flooding?

The event was led by Cllr Pete Sudbury, with representatives from the various local authorities (staff and councillors), the Environment Agency, Thames Water, the farming community, environmentalists, and several flood groups.

In the breakout session five groups spent 30 mins each on two questions: how do we improve resilience, and what does an effective response to a flood event look like? This was a rich discussion with many common threads emerging in the feedback. One theme was the role local flood groups can play in spreading reliable information to neighbours and feeding back on issues to the various response agencies. There was general recognition this isn’t as organised as it should be.

Making the link between flooding and climate change, and the need for behaviour changes in society (dietary, travel, consumption) if we’re to contain global warming was also discussed. Local flood groups can help raise these issues. Social inequalities and the impact of flooding on disadvantaged households was also highlighted.

There is much we can do to improve on current ways of working, with more joined-up thinking, and collaboration to make the best use of scarce resources. Flood-risk reduction, nature conservation, sustainable food production and reducing carbon emissions are inter-related.

We need to move away from a society where people see themselves as ‘consumers’, expecting ‘service’, to one were we see ourselves as ‘citizens’ asking what we can do to contribute.

November flood emergency

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River levels in Oxford have peaked and are starting to fall after a week of disruption, with flood defences deployed in several parts of the city. Members of Oxford Flood Alliance have been busy working with residents and the authorities to make sure homes and businesses stay dry. Overall the emergency response has been well managed.

Intense rainfall was experienced across the catchment on Sunday 24 November. Minster Lovell rain gauge recorded 53.2 mm, almost a month’s worth of rain, in just 24 hours. St John’s Lechlade recorded 46.9 mm in the same period. Soils were already sodden after the record-breaking deluge at the end of September and predicting what might happen was challenging. The Environment Agency thought initially that we might see river levels similar to those in January this year.

In the event the floods were not as bad as feared, with the highest levels 150 mm lower than in January. There were two flood peaks in Oxford. The first came on 26 November, driven by the Evenlode and local surface water, the second on 29 November as water made its way down from the headwaters of the Thames. Levels are expected to remain high into early December with a lot of water still flowing through the city.

OFA is deeply frustrated that we have been waiting since the beginning of the year (albeit with a change of government during that period) for the Secretary of State at DEFRA to sign off on the compulsory purchase order for the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme. If the scheme were in place we would not have to experience the stress, disruption to daily life and costly emergency response seen over the last week.

River Thames in flood 27 November 2024

OFA on BBC Radio Oxford

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OFA steering group member Simon Collings spoke on the Sophie Law show this morning (20 November 2024) during a discussion on flooding. The County Council yesterday discussed a series of measures designed to deal with flooding across the county. These include retrofitting sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDs) into council owned properties and roads, helping communities develop flood plans, and getting tougher with Thames Water.

Cllr Pete Sudbury said that the impacts of climate change appear to be accelerating and the authorities need to up their response. We’re seeing more flash flooding and the proposal to retrofit SuDs was part of a response to that. But this comes against a backdrop of a decade of austerity with funding cuts for local authorities and the Environment Agency. We face ‘a perfect storm’ he said. ‘No pun intended’.

Simon spoke about two recommendations in particular, the possibility of complaining to OFWAT about Thames Water’s failure to provide reports after floods (which they have a legal obligation to do), and the potential role that local flood groups could play.

OFA has called in the past for more pressure to be applied to Thames Water to ensure investment in sewage infrastructure is happening. We have also called for improvements in the way the company responds to incidents of sewage flooding. We need national bodies to be engaged with this.

We also believe local flood groups and residents have a role to play in identifying problem hot spots, checking of the condition of gullies, culverts and other flood assets, and raising awareness locally of what people can do to protect against floods and reduce the impacts. We believe the authorities could be engaging more effectively with local flood groups.

There a meeting on 29 November to discuss ways to improve flood resilience in Oxfordshire. This will bring together a wide range of interested parties. OFA will be at the meeting.

Osney flood awareness event

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Oxford Flood Alliance held a flood awareness event on Osney Island on 16 November. Richard Thurston (who organised the event) and Simon Collings were on hand for two hours in the morning to talk to local residents about flood risk, protecting properties, and anything else flood related. We interacted with lots of neigbours, some well prepared for floods and some newcomers to the community considering options for protecting their homes.

Our aim was to encourage people with products like pumps, flood gates and airbrick covers to check they know where they are, how to install them and in the case of pumps, test they work. Several people told us they were doing this and we were able to test a pump for one resident.

This was the first time we have organised an event of this kind. The response was good and we plan to hold a similar event next year.

Richard Thurston demonstrating how a submersible pump works

Groundwater flood resilience South Oxford

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Project Groundwater is seeking views from people in South Oxford who have experienced groundwater flooding. The insights of local residents will help the project understand how resilient the community is currently and what might be done to make it more resilient. The survey questionnaire can be found here. People who respond have the chance to qualify for a free flood resilience survey. It is open to residents in New Hinksey and Grandpont. There will be a public drop in at South Oxford Community Centre on 20 November, 4-7pm.

OFA has been working with Project Groundwater in helping set up a flood action group in South Oxford. The project is a government funded initiative managed by Bucks County Council which is working with a number of communities affected by groundwater. It has published 7 podcasts so far, most recently on insurance and on natural flood management techniques, which are worth a listen.

Keeping streams clear of obstructions

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The fallen tree in the Bulstake Stream reported to the Environment Agency in August by OFA was removed by their maintenance team in September. Here’s what the stream looked like on 30 October.

Fallen tree reported in August 2024
Stream after clearance October 2024

The Environment Agency has an annual programme for maintaining sections of main river where a blockage could increase risk of property flooding. Riperian landowners are responsible for maintenance on other waterways.

If you’re concerned about fallen trees blocking a river please report it and we’ll try to get the issue attended to. Please supply photographs and the exact location of the problem. A resident in south Oxford recently succeeded in having a tree removed from Weir’s Mill stream by a local landowner’s estate management agent. The Environment Agency wrote to the managing agent in support of the request.

A423 bridge granted planning consent

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Oxfordshire County Council has granted planning permission for the planned replacement of the Kennington road bridge on Oxford’s southern bypass (A423). The bridge lies on the route of the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme and work needs to commence on replacing the bridge before construction of the flood scheme can begin. The granting of planning approval for the bridge is another step forward towards the realising of the flood relief project which itself secured planning consent in July this year.

Structural problems with the A423 bridge were first identified in 2019. Details of the planned replacement can be found here.

Tracking future biodiversity trends

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As part of OFA’s commitment to improving biodiversity in the west Oxford floodplain, steering-group member Simon Collings has been recording butterflies in the area. In 2023 he carried out a survey of species present in the floodplain and shared the results with the Environment Agency ecologists working on the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme. This year (2024) Simon set up a transect under the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS) . He and two volunteers conducted weekly surveys from April to September. Results have been shared with the EA.

The 1 km transect route starts on the Electric Road near Osney Mead, follows informal paths across the meadow to the south of the Bulstake Stream, and finishes at Hogacre Eco Park. The route was planned with the directors of the Eco Park, and with the EA ecologists.

Why is OFA doing this?

‘The idea was to establish a baseline prior to the EA building the flood alleviation scheme,’ Simon explains. ‘I knew from surveying in 2023 that Hogacre is relatively rich in butterflies. The Hogacre trustees are keen to gather more data on biodiversity at the site and the formal methodology of the transect helps provide some of that. The first three sections of the transect, in contrast, are across land where the EA will be introducing improved species-rich grassland, hedges and trees. Over time the butterfly population here should increase.’

This year has not been good for butterflies, with numbers down hugely across the UK. This is reflected in the results obtained locally compared with Simon’s observations in 2023. A total of 161 butterflies, representing 18 species, were recorded along the transect. Of these 122 (76%) were in the scrub and meadow at Hogacre. The most commonly recorded species were meadow brown (48) and gatekeeper (45).

How does it help improve biodiversity?

The transect methodology gives a measure of relative abundance which can be compared with other sites and which can be tracked annually to show increases or declines in populations and species. Butterflies are highly sensitive to changes in the environment and for this reason are used nationally as an indicator of environmental health.

Surveying on the transect uses a precise methodology and the records submitted to UKBMS are checked by an expert. Simon’s 2023 sightings were submitted to iRecord where again records are verified by experts.

‘OFA sees the biodiversity elements of the flood alleviation scheme as an opportunity to support wildlife in the area,’ Simon says. ‘To maximise this we want to engage local people in citizen science and conservation activity, working in partnership with the EA.’

Landowners in the area, including some Oxford University colleges, are already involved in floodplain-meadow restoration. There are a lot of resources in the city to draw on. OFA believes we could create something significant here which connects up with other biodiverse areas in the county. The river system is an obvious wildlife corridor.

Simon is a member of Butterfly Conservation and also records on a 4.5 km UKBMS transect at Wytham run by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. More information on butterflies at Hogacre can be found here.

Catchment saturated after record rain

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The Environment Agency has issued a report giving details of the exceptional rainfall in the Thames catchment in September and the consequences of this. It makes sobering reading. The capacity of soils to absorb more water has been reduced to virtually zero resulting in high river flows. The rising chalk groundwater aquifers are untypical for this time of year.

The report summary says:

Thames area received 193mm of rainfall in September, 317% of the long term average (LTA); making it the wettest month since records began in 1871. Following the high rainfall, soil moisture deficits (SMDs) were reduced to zero and this resulted in high effective rainfall of 50mm (LTA is 5mm). Monthly mean flows increased at all our sites and 4 measured their highest ever September flows since site records began. Due to the heavy rainfall, the seasonal declining trend of groundwater levels reversed at the majority of our indicator sites in September, which is earlier than normal.

This map of soil water deficit (i.e. the available capacity in the soil to absorb more moisture) shows the situation graphically. The long term average is 88mm meaning we typically enter winter with some capacity in the system to absorb rainfall. Not this year,

This is Flood Awareness Week. If you’re concerned about potential flooding there is good advice on the government website about how to prepare for and protect against flooding. The EA report is the Monthly water situation report: Thames Area.

Flood Action Week 2024

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Next week, 14-20 October, is Flood Action Week when the government will be raising awareness of flood risk and what we can do about it. Being prepared for flooding will reduce the impact, even if you only do a few basic things. Making your home flood resilient can, the government says, reduce the costs of repairs by up to 73%. Advice about what to do if you are at risk of flooding is available here.

Apart from protecting homes and businesses look out for flooding on roads and don’t drive through flood water. Most of those who die as a result of flooding in the UK do so because they tried to drive through a flood. Don’t chance it.

Take steps now to make sure you are as prepared and protected as possible.