Agenda item

The Chairman announced that a Flood and Water Management Workshop would be held on 26 April 2022 to raise awareness of a series of themes that fall within the Committee’s remit.

A verbal update was requested regarding the weed build-up in Boston and the River Witham from the Environment Agency (EA). Peter Reilly, Operations Manager - Environment Agency, reported that:

·       The methods which could be used to clear the River Witham could be applied to the Ancholme as it was experiencing similar weed build-up. This would be more cost-efficient as the cost would be shared between the two rivers.

·       A third meeting was organised on the 10 March between various partners and local businesses to discuss methods to address the environmental problems reported.

·       The EA were currently identifying alternative methods to remove duckweed build-up; weed boats and tract excavator could only remove weeds that were rooted in the margins of the river.

·       The EA could not acquire expenditure to remove the weeds as funding was reserved for mitigating against flood risks. Since the River Witham was at no risk of flooding because of the overgrowth, funding was currently unavailable.

·       The incident on the River Witham and Ancholme was now classified as a category 1 environmental incident, however funding remained inaccessible.

A lengthy debate ensued, and the following was noted:

·       Members expressed concern over the issue spreading further in warmer months if no prompt actions were taken.

·       Unpleasant smells caused by the weed-build up and dead river-life were negatively impacting residents, especially in the Boston area.

·       Members considered the weed-boats expensive and ineffective in removing the duckweed build-up.

·       The under-shot design of the sluice in the River Witham exacerbated the inability to remove weeds because allowing the weed to flow out at times of low-flow resulted in a loss of water, which led to a public expense. The Operations Manager expressed that a replacement sluice would cost £17,000, and installation prices were quoted as a similar amount.

·       It was clarified that the Canals Rivers Trust were responsible for maintaining the right of access to navigation on the River Witham, and the abstraction and transfer of the water was under the remit of the EA, although these responsibilities were not mutually exclusive.

·       It was agreed that further information be circulated on the environmental impact of the decrease in fish population.

·       It was suggested that the Canals and Rivers Trust attended a Flood and Water Management Scrutiny Committee meeting to discuss their roles and responsibilities relating to the River Witham.

Councillor T Dyer, Support Councillor for Economic Development, Environment and Planning, made the following announcements:

·       In November 2022, the National Infrastructure Commission published their review on reducing surface-level flooding risks and the amounts of investment needed to protect infrastructure against flood risks. It was suggested that £12 billion in investments between 2025-2055 would protect properties at risk of flood damage by 60%

·       On 10 January, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) published their review into the implementation of Section 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act; it was recommended that the government must act to implement the legislation. The government had accepted this recommendation and the Secretary of State for DEFRA positively committed to a public consultation later this year.

·       Progress was reported with Section 19 (S.19) Flood Investigations following the August 2022 flooding incident, and many had been concluded. After the floods, a town-wide Section 19 investigation in Market Rasen was initiated and had since been concluded. It deduced that further information on the current capacity of drainage assets was needed. A feasibility study and hydraulic flood risk modelling across Market Rasen was also recommended to better understand risks to properties.

·       The Executive had provisionally released funding as part of the Development Fund Programme to address drainage and flooding issues across the county. There was currently a programme of work for investigating, cleansing, and starting repairs in 33 locations across Lincolnshire which would be completed before the end of this financial year. A number of these locations were also subject to ongoing section 19 investigations.