5/6/2008

NEW flood defences being constructed in North Yorkshire could help to reduce the risk of flooding in York.

City of York MP Hugh Bayley toured upstream areas of the River Ouse catchment to hear about the new methods which environmental bosses say might reduce the flood risk in his city constituency.

Mr Bayley visited the countryside around Ripon to learn about potential land management measures that could be implemented to reduce flood risk, as part of the Environment Agency's national Making Space for Water programme.

One of the measures the Environment Agency has already been undertaking is the process of blocking grips (man-made drainage channels) on the moors above Ripon.

Other schemes which could reduce flood risk further downstream include planting floodplain woodland, building run-off ponds to store water and planting vegetation to prevent erosion on the sides of valleys.

Mr Bayley said: "The flood defences in York were very nearly overlapped in the big flood in the year 2000.

"People in York want improvements to the city's flood defences, but it is just as important to slow the rate that water comes down the river so that the flood peak is not so high.

"I am pleased the Environment Agency is looking at new and different ways of reducing flood risk.

"I was interested to see how measures upstream can reduce water flows and the amount of sediment in rivers, which should help to reduce the risk of flooding to communities downstream, such as York."

An Environment Agency spokesman said the Ouse had a very large catchment area and the Ripon area was chosen for the MP's tour because it included a range of geography such as uplands, agricultural land and urban areas within the floodplain.

"Climate change is predicted to give us 20 per cent higher water flows," said project manager Jeff Pacey.

"These land management practices have the potential to provide long-term benefits that would mitigate the increased flood risk that comes with climate change."

In the Ripon area, Environment Agency partners include Natural England, the Forestry Commission, Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust and the National Trust.