Natural Flood Management Measures: a practical guide for farmers

Traditionally, flood defences in the U.K. have included large-scale, hard engineering in and around towns; flood banks and small scale engineering for rural communities and farmland; and coastal engineering. There is increasing interest nationally in how the management of the wider landscape can reduce the risk of flooding to towns and villages by slowing the speed of water coming off the hills and temporarily storing water in areas where it will not cause damage. This is known as Natural Flood Management (NFM). Natural Flood Management techniques can be used alongside more traditional methods to reduce reliance on engineered defences and make our catchments more resilient. Simple techniques could have a significant effect on reducing flood risk without sacrificing production levels or greatly altering land management practices. These measures can also be beneficial to agricultural businesses by reducing the damaging effects of high rainfall events to farms such as soil loss, track erosion or inundation of buildings. A number of case studies and research projects have shown Natural Flood Management to be effective when carried out in small catchments above a community at flood risk. A large scale of intervention is required to make a significant difference but it is the combined network, rather than individual features, that provides flood mitigation