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Flooding Britain

What's the best way to prevent flooding? Caz Graham asks whether there are environmental alternatives to building ever higher flood defences.

What's the best way to prevent flooding? Caz Graham finds out whether there might be environmental alternatives to building ever-higher flood defences. She talks to a campaign group in Kendal in Cumbria, where there are multi-million pound plans to build flood barriers through the town centre, and asks the Environment Agency whether there could be more imaginative alternatives. Is Natural Flood Management the answer? Caz talks to academics and experts to find out what new solutions there might be, and what other countries are doing.

Produced by Emma Campbell.
Photograph by Stuart Atkinson.

CORRECTION 22/06/2020
In the programme we said: "Those with doubts about the Environment Agency鈥檚 walls point to alternative strategies like Natural Flood Management 鈥� which holds water further upstream, slowing the flow into town, so the flood peak is lower. That鈥檚 phase 3 of the Environment Agency鈥檚 plan, and gets a tiny fraction of the 拢76 million budget 鈥� just 拢800,000." In fact the 拢800,000 for Natural Flood Management is actually in addition to the overall budget.

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28 minutes

Last on

Wed 13 May 2020 21:00

Broadcasts

  • Tue 12 May 2020 15:30
  • Wed 13 May 2020 21:00

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