The Thames and it’s tributaries upstream of Oxford have remained largely within their normal range and appear to be stabilising today, 25 September. Flow at Farmoor is just over 42 cumex, well below levels typically seen during flood events, and flow seems to be levelling off. The Environment Agency has said it expects rivers to stabilise during the day.

Various locations in Oxfordshire have experienced flooding, principally from surface water runoff, drainage systems being unable to cope with the sheer volume of water. The Cherwell, Ray and Thame rivers are also high and flood warnings are in place along stretches of these rivers, including near Banbury, Kidlington, and Abingdon. Flood alerts have been issued for some upstream sections of the Thames, but there are no alerts currently in Oxford city.

The Environment Agency is continuing to monitor the situation.

At 13.00 today, 23 September, the Osney rain gauge showed 67 mm of rainfall in the previous 24 hours, with heavy rain still falling. The average rainfall for September in Oxford is 54.38 mm.

Rainfall has been heavy across the catchment and clearly there will be a lot of water draining into the Thames over the coming days. Rivers are within their normal range currently, though rising in many places. Flood alerts have not yet been issued by the Environment Agency for Oxford but residents should monitor river levels and keep a watch on the situation.

Lots of reports of surface water flooding, school closures, traffic disruption appearing in the media.

We will post further information in due course.

Oxford Flood Alliance has responded to the consultation on the latest update to the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy for Oxfordshire. There is mush in the document which we agree with. We have made comments on four areas where we believe flood risk management practice could be strengthened:

1. The document recognises that flood risk management cannot be delivered without the engagement of local communities. But there is no central list of community flood groups and flood wardens across the county, no regular formal engagement with this community, and it can be difficult for members of the community to secure engagement from the various agencies. This needs to improve is we are to build a network of resilient communities in Oxfordshire.
2. Thames Water is assigned responsibilities under the strategy but based on past experience the likelihood of them failing to meet these obligations is, in our view, high. We do not believe the measures proposed in the strategy for securing Thames Water’s cooperation are strong enough.
3. Maintenance of existing waterways is important for flood risk management. With successive cuts to its budget the Environment Agency no longer has the resources it once had and is forced to prioritise where it intervenes. In the short term more transparent communication with members of the public about priorities would help. In the longer term maintenance needs more resources.
4. There are useful comments in the document about Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS). We are urging the local flood risk management authorities to also think about additional techniques for reducing runoff, in particular use of water catchment and reuse systems of the kind currently being proposed for two large developments in the city.

Oxford Flood Alliance has alerted the Environment Agency to a fallen tree and accumulating debris which is blocking the Bulstake Stream at the Hinksey Causeway bridge near Osney Mead. This could interfere with river flows if we have flooding this winter. We’ve been told that the EA field team will be working on the Bulstake Stream towards the end of August, and have been made aware of the problem. This should be resolved as they come through the area.

OFA is also following up on maintenance issues at Weirs Mill with the EA and relevant riperian landowners.

The Oxford Mail ran a report yesterday on the County Council approval of the Oxford Flood Alleviation scheme, including a quote from OFA. The story is here.

Simon Collings from Oxford Flood Alliance was interviewed this morning by BBC Radio Oxford. This followed the decision by Oxfordshire County Council to approve the planning application for the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme. The interview lasted around 7 minutes and was broadcast live on the Sophie Law show at 7.20am.

Simon described the experience of being flooded in 2007, the formation of OFA, and the amount of work which has gone into the design of OFAS. Questioned about biodiversity, Simon said: ‘I record butterflies for the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme, so I am as concerned as anyone about biodiversity.’ While there will be short-term disruption, Simon said, the management of the floodplain as a single entity with a goal of improving biodiversity will be better for nature in the long run.

The BBC also published a story yesterday on the County Council’s approval of the scheme in which Simon is quoted.

The planning application for the Oxford Flood Alleviation scheme has been approved by Oxfordshire County Council’s Planning and Regulation Committee with eight votes ‘for’ and one abstention.

The committee heard from 13 objectors, 16 supporters, the Environment Agency, and the County’s planning team before debating the scheme and making their decision. The Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government will be given an opportunity to call in the application because the scheme is in the greenbelt, but this is normal procedure.

The decision should now clear the way for approval of the compulsory purchase order (CPO) which was the subject of a public inquiry at the end of last year. The CPO approval follows a separate process and is currently with DEFRA. Consideration of the planning inspector’s report was delayed because of the general election.

We understand the environmental concerns of objectors and are committed to ensuring the scheme delivers on its biodiversity net gain targets.

Oxford Flood Alliance is grateful to all the people, local residents and councillors, who spoke in support of the scheme. Also to the team at the Environment Agency. This is a huge achievement after 10 years of work.