What is the Humber 2100+ Partnership?The Humber 2100+ partnership is made up of 11 local authorities from around the Humber and the Environment Agency, with support from other groups such as Internal Drainage Boards and Natural England. Together, we are working to develop a new Humber Flood Risk Management Strategy that is ambitious yet achievable and will support the sustainable development of a prosperous Humber for both people and nature. The partnership is at the core of this new strategy, working towards a shared approach that all partners agree on and will jointly implement. The objectives, principles and ambitions are shared, building in local needs and priorities. The Humber 2100+ project is considering a range of flood risk management approaches for the Humber, including conventional measures, such as flood defence raising and flood storage, as well as more ambitious solutions such as a tidal barrier. The future is uncertain, and it is important that the new Humber Flood Risk Management Strategy is flexible and can respond to changes as they arise. The new Humber 2100+ Strategy will be subject to regular review and have built-in decision points that will enable us to adapt to a changing climate and economic, social and political circumstances. Ultimately, the ambition is for the new Humber Strategy to be a living entity that will continue to evolve over time. |  |
About the project
What is Humber 2100+?
Humber 2100+ A New StrategyHumber 2100+ is a partnership consisting of 11 local authorities from around the Humber and the Environment Agency. We are working together, in association with Natural England and Internal Drainage Boards, to develop a strategy that supports sustainable development and a prosperous Humber.Flood risk has always been an issue for the area, with the consequences of tidal flooding becoming greater as more people are drawn to live and work in communities around the estuary. We need to manage tidal flood risk to enable the Humber to adapt and continue to prosper. Over £200 million has been invested in recent years, through the existing strategy (Planning for the Rising Tides) to improve flood protection to 70,000 properties around the Humber, benefitting communities and surrounding businesses and industries. However the expected scale of flooding due to climate change means that we will need something different for the future. |  |
Where are we now?
A Stepped ApproachThe strategy is being developed via a stepped approach. We have recently concluded Step 1 ‘Understanding Risk.’ This is about evidence, and ensuring a common understanding of the challenge we face, to provide a solid foundation for collaboration. All Humber 2100+ partners have endorsed the Step 1 evidence base. Focus has now turned to the preparation work needed to develop strategic approaches to managing that risk, and a plan for adaptation, through future stages of the project. |  |
Understand risk (Step 1)
The Humber Project Team and officers from across the partnership have been working alongside consultants to produce a range of future flood risk baselines that provide a strategic scale picture of how tidal flood risk could change over time (25, 50 and 100 years into the future). Other environmental, social and economic information has also been collated to understand the impacts of changing flood risk around the Humber. These baselines and implications for the Humber were endorsed by the partnership in early summer 2025, and the focus has now turned to the next steps. The partnership has also completed a successful Community Panel engagement exercise, as part of a national pilot. This was formed of 19 demographically representative members, who took part in 4 sessions in April 2024 led by expert panel witnesses, with a focus on identifying what matters to them most in terms of managing tidal flood risk. Recommendations and insights will be used to help inform future decision-making on Humber 2100+, and to bring in ‘community voice’ at an earlier stage of options development, as a pre-cursor to formal public engagement. |  |