Rising waters | Rooted solutions
Natural flood management: evidence for multiple benefits
Natural flood management (NFM) has significant potential to help communities prepare for water and flood challenges in our changing climate.
Natural flood management: evidence for multiple benefits
Natural flood management (NFM) has significant potential to help communities prepare for water and flood challenges in our changing climate. Beyond reducing flood risks, NFM can offer a variety of other benefits for people, nature, and the planet. For example, a strategically placed pond can provide water storage during a flood event, increase biodiversity by creating habitats, and enhance drought resilience during dry periods. Riparian woodlands can slow river water flow, provide carbon storage, and prevent erosion. Understanding and quantifying these co-benefits will allow us to fully appreciate and value the multiple advantages that NFM can deliver.
Research insights from Ousewem
As part of the Ousewem project, researchers at the University of York have been investigating the evidence for these co-benefits. They conducted a comprehensive review of over 600 publications and reports from the past decade, covering scientific studies, community projects, government reports, consultancy findings, charity work, and water authority documents. Each study was evaluated for its reliability and relevance.
While many co-benefits of NFM are often cited anecdotally, the systematic review revealed a surprising gap in empirical evidence within the UK. Only 27 reports and publications provided detailed measurements of both benefits and costs. Most of this data pertained to river and floodplain restoration, leaky barriers, other in-channel storage methods, offline storage areas, and woodland creation. The benefits were mostly related to regulating services (such as carbon storage or temperature regulation), biodiversity, and water quality.
The review also identified several data limitations, including inconsistencies in data quality, spatial scale, and duration of data collection. To address these gaps, the researchers recommended employing robust experimental methods, such as using control sites, consistent measurement practices across studies, catchment-scale data collection, and regular monitoring over the lifespan of NFM projects to track changes and impacts over time.
Moving forward: filling the evidence gaps
To address these recommendations, our Ousewem researchers will start to work in key case study areas in the SUNO catchment and with partners across the country to gather data and fill some of the main evidence gaps about NFM co-benefits. Our work will provide quantitative evidence that will support improvements in NFM benefits calculations, policy and delivery, across the country. This will be linked to current and future funding mechanisms for NFM, working to secure positive outcomes for people and nature, both in Yorkshire and beyond.
NFM not only provides a practical solution to flood risk but also fosters a healthier and more resilient environment. By continuing to build and share robust evidence, we can advocate for policies and practices that harness the full range of benefits that NFM offers. Together, we’ll develop practices which better safeguard our environment and communities.
Also see
