Herefordshire is currently experiencing severe flooding and, while floodplains being inundated is an expected, seasonal occurrence, the frequency and severity of the flooding of this and recent years has a major impact on our natural world. While tackling the climate crisis to treat the root of the problem is imperative, employing nature-based solutions to address the problems is also vital.

Struggling Species

Mammals which live in burrows, such as mice and voles, will be particularly struggling with homes inundated with water. Waterlogged ground also makes it hard for animals which dig for their food such as badgers, whose diet is mainly worms and beetles. This winter we have seen increase in otter road casualties, which is likely to be due to their displacement when rivers flood. Even species which are associated with habitats such as floodplain meadows which are inundated annually can struggle when the land is submerged for long stretches of time.  For the celebrated snake’s head fritillary, for example, which flowers on Hereford’s Lugg Meadows, our very wet winters may mean plants die off.

Resilience through Nature-Based Solutions

Landscapes which cope best with flooding are those where natural processes can play out. A key issue caused by flash floods is soil erosion as bare soil is quickly washed into rivers. This is less likely where riverbanks are held in place by the root structure of permanent grassland and trees or protected by ‘buffer strips’ of uncultivated land.

Rivers that haven't been straightened or dredged can also help prevent flooding downstream by slowing the flow of water and where rivers are connected to their floodplains, flood water is stored where it can do less damage to properties downstream.

The Trust’s nature reserves provide some good examples. At Oak Tree Farm nature reserve, a site which slopes down to the River Lugg near Dinmore, pools and scrapes have been created alongside the river which provide more storage space for floodwater as well as habitat for wetland species. 

The Trust has worked with farmers and landowners throughout the Lugg Valley to implement these ‘nature-based solutions’ such as creating attenuation ponds, fencing off the riverbanks from livestock, planting winter cover crops to protect the soil, reverting arable land back to floodplain meadows and planting native trees at the top of catchments to capture surface water run-off.

Exacerbating the Problem

While a lot of good work to build resilience is taking place, the UK continues to allow development that exacerbates flooding. Wherever ground is concreted or tarmacked over, the water that should have been absorbed by that patch of earth and vegetation runs straight off into drains and watercourses so housing development, new roads and paved over front gardens all increase flooding unless appropriate mitigation is put in place.

In addition to the problems created by development and infrastructure, in our countryside the destruction of floodplain meadows and compacted arable soils mean surface water is unable to soak into the ground effectively and travels across the surface to the nearest river, increasing the river levels and speeding up flooding further downstream.

River Pollution

One further issue is that droughts followed by flash floods can release a lot of additional phosphate that had been locked away in the soil into the watercourses. Phosphate pollution has already had a devastating effect on the Rivers Wye and Lugg with the resulting increase of algae suffocating invertebrates and smothering gravel beds needed by salmon and other fish to spawn.

As the climate change that has already occurred may mean extreme weather becomes the new normal, ensuring our landscapes are managed to be as resilient as possible is essential – for people and for wildlife.