Climate change means much warmer wetter winters, resulting in multiple storms and record-breaking rainfall. The storms between October and January, caused rivers to swell and heavy rainfall on saturated the land meant that the partnership flood teams was out working, at times around the clock, to manage our water systems to help protect properties and prevent major incidents.
In the East Riding, the flood alleviation schemes at Willerby and Derringham, Cottingham and Orchard Park, Anlaby and East Ella held back a staggering 690 million litres of water– that’s the equivalent of 276 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Without them, the water would have overwhelmed residential areas. The three Haltemprice schemes are made up of a series of giant lagoons and reservoirs that catch and store thousands of litres of surface water flowing off land when it rains heavily and slowly releases it into the drainage system.
In the last year we have installed Hull's first permeable street in East Hull, winning accolades for its innovative and sustainable construction, along with community co-creation and the use of local materials, and more flood assets are being built in West Hull. We are currently working in Derringham on a series of SuDS (Sustainable Drainage Schemes).
Green spaces in Derringham are being adapted to provide storage for storm water, acting like big ponds. In the centre, a concrete headwall is constructed with valves to a buried pipe where water will leave the aqua green to re-enter the sewerage network. The aqua greens are planted with native wildflowers and reeds which should encourage wildlife into the area. The aqua green will store storm water for short periods of time during heavy rainfall, until the sewerage system is able to take the flows and during dry weather the green spaces can be enjoyed by the communities that live around them.
Further SuDS are being surveyed and we hope to install more to build resilience across Hull and East Riding.
