Project Groundwater

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Supporting communities to be more resilient to groundwater flooding



Project Groundwater supports communities to be more resilient to groundwater flooding.

The six-year programme is working with communities in up to nine high risk flood areas of the Chiltern Hills and Berkshire Downs. It is led by Buckinghamshire Council in partnership with five other local authorities and Flood Community Groups.


Map of the Project Groundwater Area, showing Luton, Kimpton, Chesham and Chalfont St Peter being in the Herts and North London Environment Agency region, and Lambourn, Pang, New Hinksey and Marlow being in the Thames EA Region. Project Groundwater's nine focus communities.



What does Project Groundwater aim to achieve?


Project Groundwater will seek to understand the challenges from flooding that local people face and what measures are currently in place to support them. It will explore new flood management and prevention techniques and enable local communities to develop flood management plans for the future.


Sun setting behind a large bare oak tree, with the sunlight reflecting off groundwater flooding in the grass.


Communities will discover more about local groundwater and its flooding risk. They will be better prepared to manage flooding with alerts, shared knowledge and innovative ideas to help minimise disruption and damage. They will also learn how to make local areas more resilient to floods in the future.


Findings from Project Groundwater, which will include a study into the mental health impacts of flooding, are set to benefit up to 200 communities and 70,000 properties at risk of groundwater flooding across the region. Learning will also be shared nationally for the benefit of communities everywhere. The programme is funded by Defra as part of the £200 million Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme which is managed by the Environment Agency to develop and test new approaches to resilience tailored to local communities.



Programme Focus


The programme has seven distinct areas of focus:


  • Engagement and communications
  • Monitoring
  • Modelling and Mapping
  • Alerts
  • Resilience
  • Placemaking
  • Evaluation, Learning and Innovation


The Council will share its learning from Project Groundwater along the way so that other local authorities are able to adopt successful approaches to support their own communities and thereby increase resilience to groundwater flooding nationwide.



What is groundwater?


Groundwater is water held in the ground that flows through rocks and open spaces. It can occur almost anywhere - beneath oceans, lakes, valleys, mountains, hills, and deserts. It can flow to springs, rivers or the sea and can play a vital role in supporting wetlands and stream flows. Rocks that hold water are called aquifers.

The water may be held close to the ground surface and be just a few hours old, or it may lie many hundreds of feet below and have been there for thousands of years. It rests in permeable rocks such as gravels, chalk or sandstone.

The upper surface of the water held within the permeable rocks is called the water table. In many aquifers, the water table rises closer to the ground surface in winter and drops again in the summer months.

Figure 1. Rain fall on a hill, running over the ground surface into villages and a river, as well as soaking into the ground. Under the hill and villages is the water table, which currently sits under the ground level.



What is groundwater flooding?


Groundwater flooding happens when too much water gathers beneath the ground, causing the water table to rise upwards and eventually reach the ground surface.

The flooding can cause damage to property, buildings and roads and frequently overwhelms drainage and sewer networks, contaminating water and making toilets and showers unusable for long periods.

In the Chiltern Hills and Berkshire Downs, people can experience groundwater flooding from water held in the chalk and gravel aquifers. Almost 200 communities and 70,000 properties may be at risk of flooding from groundwater in this area alone.

Because groundwater flooding typically affects small rural communities, it can be hard for people to support one another. It also means that groundwater flooding often fails to qualify for flood management funding. Figure 2, continuing from Figure 1. The rain fall now causes the river to overflow and flood one village, while the other village is flooded by the rising water table due to the increased groundwater.



What are the challenges?


  • Not enough information about the risks of groundwater flooding
  • Insufficient research, mapping, and monitoring
  • Lack of sufficient community engagement
  • No comprehensive groundwater flood warning system
  • Not enough effective ways to manage the volumes and duration of floods
  • People are often unprepared and unconnected, making it harder to recover



Who we are working with

Project Groundwater is made up of a variety of partners whose expertise contributes to the knowledge and delivery of the project. Our partners include:

  • Aurora Engagements
  • AxiaOrigin
  • British Geological Survey
  • Chiltern Chalk Streams (Chilterns AONB)
  • Creative Third Sector Solutions
  • Groundwork (South/East)
  • Hertfordshire County Council
  • HR Wallingford
  • Jacobs
  • JBA Consulting
  • Lakeside Flood Solutions
  • Luton Borough Council
  • FloodMary
  • National Trust
  • Open University
  • Oxfordshire County Council
  • RAB Consultants
  • River Chess Smarter Water Catchment
  • Slough Borough Council
  • Thames RFCC
  • Thames Water
  • West Berkshire District Council
  • Whitehouse Construction

Visit our website to learn more about our partners and what they contribute to the project.




Supporting communities to be more resilient to groundwater flooding



Project Groundwater supports communities to be more resilient to groundwater flooding.

The six-year programme is working with communities in up to nine high risk flood areas of the Chiltern Hills and Berkshire Downs. It is led by Buckinghamshire Council in partnership with five other local authorities and Flood Community Groups.


Map of the Project Groundwater Area, showing Luton, Kimpton, Chesham and Chalfont St Peter being in the Herts and North London Environment Agency region, and Lambourn, Pang, New Hinksey and Marlow being in the Thames EA Region. Project Groundwater's nine focus communities.



What does Project Groundwater aim to achieve?


Project Groundwater will seek to understand the challenges from flooding that local people face and what measures are currently in place to support them. It will explore new flood management and prevention techniques and enable local communities to develop flood management plans for the future.


Sun setting behind a large bare oak tree, with the sunlight reflecting off groundwater flooding in the grass.


Communities will discover more about local groundwater and its flooding risk. They will be better prepared to manage flooding with alerts, shared knowledge and innovative ideas to help minimise disruption and damage. They will also learn how to make local areas more resilient to floods in the future.


Findings from Project Groundwater, which will include a study into the mental health impacts of flooding, are set to benefit up to 200 communities and 70,000 properties at risk of groundwater flooding across the region. Learning will also be shared nationally for the benefit of communities everywhere. The programme is funded by Defra as part of the £200 million Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme which is managed by the Environment Agency to develop and test new approaches to resilience tailored to local communities.



Programme Focus


The programme has seven distinct areas of focus:


  • Engagement and communications
  • Monitoring
  • Modelling and Mapping
  • Alerts
  • Resilience
  • Placemaking
  • Evaluation, Learning and Innovation


The Council will share its learning from Project Groundwater along the way so that other local authorities are able to adopt successful approaches to support their own communities and thereby increase resilience to groundwater flooding nationwide.



What is groundwater?


Groundwater is water held in the ground that flows through rocks and open spaces. It can occur almost anywhere - beneath oceans, lakes, valleys, mountains, hills, and deserts. It can flow to springs, rivers or the sea and can play a vital role in supporting wetlands and stream flows. Rocks that hold water are called aquifers.

The water may be held close to the ground surface and be just a few hours old, or it may lie many hundreds of feet below and have been there for thousands of years. It rests in permeable rocks such as gravels, chalk or sandstone.

The upper surface of the water held within the permeable rocks is called the water table. In many aquifers, the water table rises closer to the ground surface in winter and drops again in the summer months.

Figure 1. Rain fall on a hill, running over the ground surface into villages and a river, as well as soaking into the ground. Under the hill and villages is the water table, which currently sits under the ground level.



What is groundwater flooding?


Groundwater flooding happens when too much water gathers beneath the ground, causing the water table to rise upwards and eventually reach the ground surface.

The flooding can cause damage to property, buildings and roads and frequently overwhelms drainage and sewer networks, contaminating water and making toilets and showers unusable for long periods.

In the Chiltern Hills and Berkshire Downs, people can experience groundwater flooding from water held in the chalk and gravel aquifers. Almost 200 communities and 70,000 properties may be at risk of flooding from groundwater in this area alone.

Because groundwater flooding typically affects small rural communities, it can be hard for people to support one another. It also means that groundwater flooding often fails to qualify for flood management funding. Figure 2, continuing from Figure 1. The rain fall now causes the river to overflow and flood one village, while the other village is flooded by the rising water table due to the increased groundwater.



What are the challenges?


  • Not enough information about the risks of groundwater flooding
  • Insufficient research, mapping, and monitoring
  • Lack of sufficient community engagement
  • No comprehensive groundwater flood warning system
  • Not enough effective ways to manage the volumes and duration of floods
  • People are often unprepared and unconnected, making it harder to recover



Who we are working with

Project Groundwater is made up of a variety of partners whose expertise contributes to the knowledge and delivery of the project. Our partners include:

  • Aurora Engagements
  • AxiaOrigin
  • British Geological Survey
  • Chiltern Chalk Streams (Chilterns AONB)
  • Creative Third Sector Solutions
  • Groundwork (South/East)
  • Hertfordshire County Council
  • HR Wallingford
  • Jacobs
  • JBA Consulting
  • Lakeside Flood Solutions
  • Luton Borough Council
  • FloodMary
  • National Trust
  • Open University
  • Oxfordshire County Council
  • RAB Consultants
  • River Chess Smarter Water Catchment
  • Slough Borough Council
  • Thames RFCC
  • Thames Water
  • West Berkshire District Council
  • Whitehouse Construction

Visit our website to learn more about our partners and what they contribute to the project.


Page last updated: 12 Oct 2023, 09:33 AM