Published 26 October 2006 at 11:21 (NCE)

Environment Agency flood data on River Nene "flawed"

Northampton residents this week launched a head-on battle with the Environment Agency after claiming that recent flood modelling of the River Nene at Upton was flawed.

They said that errors in the model meant that 10,000 new properties, a new road, and the town of Northampton were at greater risk of flooding than the Agency predicted.

Members of the (River) Nene Flood Prevention Alliance (NFPA) believe that crucial data from a major flood in 1947 has been omitted from two flood modelling exercises –the first in 1994, and the second in 1999/2000. This, they claim, has left the Agency's analysis flawed and the severity of future floods underestimated.

But the Agency this week denied that there was a problem and insisted it was using the best information to model the area. “The current Nene strategic model is based on catchment conditions as they exist today and has been calibrated using the Easter 1998 floods - the most significant flood event in recent years,” a spokesman told NCE.