Welcome to the Spring 2025 Flood Warden Newsletter
’Natural Flood Management (NFM) uses and emulates natural processes and features to reduce the risk of flooding….
…These processes protect, restore and mimic the natural functions of catchments and floodplains to slow and store water and also help provide wider environmental benefits’’
Welcome to the Spring edition of our Flood Warden Newsletter, which is focussed on Natural Flood Management (NFM). I’m Aly Maxwell, the Environment Agency’s Wessex NFM Advisor.
The aim of NFM is to increase infiltration of rain into the land, slow the flow and hold water back upstream. This will reduce and delay river peaks, thus contributing to reduced flood risk to communities, property and infrastructure downstream.
NFM approaches can start in the field the moment rain falls and can be applied across the whole catchment and landscape. NFM and Nature Based Solutions (NBS) measures are often small scale, low cost and simple interventions. Their benefit is gained when delivered in combination, with the effect accumulating at scale across a landscape or catchment.
NFM and NBS measures not only work to reduce flooding but can also deliver wider environmental benefits such as increased biodiversity, improved water quality and improved resilience to drought.
NFM is no Silver Bullet. During periods of prolonged heavy rainfall, extreme rain events and repeated storms, flooding is still likely to occur, but implementing NFM measures in the right places can reduce the extent, frequency and duration of flooding and its associated impacts to communities and property.
