Chris Short will be giving a public lecture at the University of Gloucestershire Oxstalls Campus on the subject of natural flood management on Thursday, 25th February. The lecture, which is entitled ‘Natural Flood Management: Letting Nature Do What Nature Does’, is free to attend though you should register your attendance online before the event.
With the recent deluges and flooding in the north of England, the threat of rising waters is never far from the minds of many residents in Gloucestershire, Great Britain and around the world. December 2015 was the wettest month on record, and the impact of climate change may mean these events will become more frequent.
From sand bags to flood barriers, attempts to hold back the water have met with varying levels of success.
Chris has been working with Stroud District Council on a pioneering scheme to tackle floods and help wildlife in the Stroud Valleys. (See project details) He has also been working on the Water and Integrated Local Delivery (WILD) project in the Cotswolds, that links farmers, communities and decision makers to improve the management of water around the source of the River Thames and the Cotswold Water Park.
Chris’ lecture will look at how small-scale low cost interventions in different locations and joined up thinking can reduce the risk and frequency of flooding, and work alongside more standard techniques to reduce the overall flood risk, and how we can all play our part.