72/10  A £5.3 million award to 49 local authorities to help them tackle surface water flooding - a problem when the ground, rivers and drains cannot absorb heavy rainfall - was announced today by the Environment Minister Huw Irranca- Davies.

Last year local authorities were invited to submit bids, for £20,000 - £100,000 to carry out immediate engineering works and to produce specific management plans to help them deal with known local flooding problems.

More than 1,600 properties are expected to benefit directly from the works and  the plans will help local authorities understand better the ways of managing  flood risk for a further 112,000 properties.

Mr Irranca-Davies said:

“Local authorities have a crucial role to play in tackling flooding and it’s vital that they have these funds now so that work can begin on resolving local flooding immediately. At the same time they will have the chance to develop the understanding and skills they need for the longer term. We wanted to make sure these funds go where it’s most needed and where it can make the biggest difference.’

In August 2009 £9.7 million was awarded to 77 local authorities in areas where evidence shows that the risk and potential impact of surface water flooding could be highest. Preparation of Surface Water Management Plans for these areas is already underway.

An additional £1 million is planned to be spent in 2010 on making training, data and other tools available to help all local authorities manage flood risk.

Updated guidance is also being issued today to help those local authorities who are developing Surface Water Management Plans.

The 2007 Pitt Review highlighted the dangers from surface water flooding and made a number of recommendations. These included giving local authorities new responsibilities for flood risk management and the development of surface water management plans. The Environment Agency has estimated that around two-thirds of the flooding in summer 2007 was caused by surface water.

Notes to editors

1. 282 bids were received from 117 local authorities. Three quarters of the bids were for carrying out engineering works that will reduce the flood risk to households and businesses and the rest was for surface water management plans.  A list of councils who will benefit from the funds can be found at www.defra.gov.uk/environment/flooding/manage/surfacewater/index.htm

2. Hilary Benn announced the Government’s response to the Pitt Review on the 17th December 2008 which included the commitment of £15 million to help local authorities co-ordinate and lead flood management locally.

3. On the 18 August 2009 Ministers announced how the £15 million would be allocated to local authorities including a further £1million for training and capacity building for local authorities. £9.7 was allocated last year to 77 local authority areas where the  consequences of surface water flooding were expected to be highest having been identified from studies which modelled the effects of very severe rainfall. Such storms can occur anywhere and are expected to become more frequent in the future with climate change.

4. The Environment Agency estimated that around two-thirds of the flooding (affecting 57,000 properties) in summer 2007 was due to surface water. Surface water flooding is also extremely difficult to predict as it is often a result of sudden localised rainfall events, and very small variations in the built environment can have significant effects on the way water flows. Climate change predictions indicate that intense rainfall events are likely to increase resulting in an increased risk of surface water flooding.

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