The Environment Agency is inviting people to comment on plans for the first stage of a new 2-year study which will consider flooding on the whole catchment of the River Trent and many of its main tributaries, a total area of over 10,000km2.

The first part of the study is the ‘River Trent Catchment Flood Management Plan Scoping Report’, which is now available for consultation. It defines the flooding issues and problems that we currently face, and sets the general direction for future flood risk management.

The Scoping Report can be found on our website at:

www.environment-agency.gov.uk.

Comments are welcome and should be sent by 17 February 2007 to:

Loreta Adams, Olton Court, 10 Warwick Road, Olton,

Solihull, West Midlands B92 7HX

Or email to: trentcfmp@environment-agency.gov.uk

The next stage will be to continue our work on the Catchment Flood Management Plan itself. During the study, we will assess the Trent and its tributaries as a whole, look at the ways these interact with each other, and investigate ways of managing the flood risk in an environmentally sustainable way.

The final document will identify ways of managing flood risk over the next 50 – 100 years, taking into consideration existing conditions across the area, as well as potential future changes that could affect flood risk such as:

climate change

changes to the way land is used

changes to the rural landscape and the way agricultural land is managed

increased pressure from urban development.

Project Manager, Loreta Adams, says: “We need to plan for the future.

Flooding is a natural event, but issues such as climate change and the way we want to use our land affect flood risks and how we manage them.

This study, using sophisticated computer models, will tell us more about the interaction between the River Trent and its tributaries, and how these rivers might behave in future. This will enable us to make sure that we manage the risks in ways that will not cause problems for future generations.”

This new flood study is the latest in a series of studies and plans for the River Trent and its tributaries. Some focus on local issues and solutions. Others, like this Catchment Flood Management Plan, take a wider view of how rivers in the catchment affect each other. Together, these studies will contribute to our understanding of the way the rivers behave and interact so that our future actions to protect people from the damage and distress caused by flooding are based on the best and most comprehensive information available.