What are other organisations doing?
All across the UK, different groups of people are developing ways to contain the rain. ‘Nature-based Solutions’ are ways of managing water that protect, manage and restore natural ecosystems, while also addressing social challenges like climate change, human health, food security, and disaster risk reduction.
In the countryside, Councils, Water Companies and organisations like the Environment Agency and English Nature are working with landowners and farmers to:
Remove concrete drains, construct ‘leaky dams’ and restore upland peatland to its natural sponge-like state;
Return meadows to act as natural floodplains, receiving water from overflowing rivers and then acting as wildflower meadows for birds and insects when the water subsides.
Build mini reservoirs to provide farms with water when it's dry, and slow and hold back rain when it's wet.
In towns and cities, Councils and Water Companies are:
Landscaping green spaces beside our roads, to soak up, slow, filter and clean rainwater, and to attract wildlife
Designing multi-purpose spaces that can be used for play, sports or animals when it is dry, and contain rainwater when it is wet.
Restoring and rewilding rivers, giving them more space to meander and overflow, which creates important natural habitat
Community-based rainwater management, using water butts and rain gardens, sits well alongside these solutions, which offer an alternative to traditional approaches, which are often focused on large and expensive infrastructure projects, like reservoirs and sewage networks, which are also environmentally damaging.
Images: Manor Fields Park, Sheffield. Courtesy of Sheffield City Council/Roger Nowell