Sustainable Recovery Pilot project

After being impacted by flooding in 2019 and again during winter 2023/24 farmers and landowners in the Fiskerton and Barlings Eau area approached the Environment Agency. They expressed that they wanted to do something different in terms of flood recovery rather than flood, recover, flood. The Environment Agency committed to facilitating a pilot project in this area. The aim of this is to work with partners and stakeholders to explore whether there is another way to manage flood risk and recover sustainably from flooding.

Flood compartments affected during Storm Babet that are hydraulically connected to each other, were combined to define the project area. They also have similar issues with long lengths of embanked defences, and low numbers of benefits (i.e. houses at risk etc.), which means our grants would not fund sustaining those defences.

Sustainable Recovery Pilot project boundary. 

This project is a Fens 2100+ pilot project. Fens 2100+ is developing a Fens-wide approach to managing flood risk in a way that balances the needs of people, the environment and agriculture, both now and in the future. More information can be found on the Fens 2100+ information page.

We hope the work in this pilot project area can be a learning opportunity for how we manage flood risk and recover sustainably from future flooding- not just here, but across the rest of the Lower Witham area and the wider Fens landscape.

Flooding in this area in 2019 and 2023/24 highlighted the challenges of managing ageing flood risk assets and the limitations of current funding rules in addressing future risks.

We have created a ‘Partnership Group’ including the Witham Third Internal Drainage Board, Lincolnshire County Council, National Farmers Union and Natural England. Together, we’re developing a clear plan for the Sustainable Recovery project.

So far, we have:

• Created a short list of potential measures.
• Developed a contingency plan for managing flood risk until more sustainable plans can be implemented.
• Met with farmers and landowners to hear their ideas and gather feedback.

For the latest project updates visit our Sustainable Recovery Pilot project newsfeed.

What scenarios have we considered? 

We combined short listed measures into a small number of technically feasible scenarios including-

• Do Nothing (only used to compare against other scenarios)
• Do Minimum
• Rebuild and maintain
• Flood storage and resilience

How did we review these scenarios?

The partnership reviewed and evaluated each proposed scenario on:

• How well it meets the stakeholder and partner objectives.
• Economic viability (costs vs. benefits to check the scenario is worthwhile).
• Sustainability (minimising ecological and carbon impacts, and where possible, having a positive impact).

What potential measures have been considered as part of the flood storage and resilience scenario?