(R) River Severn management

Question 1

Key facts?

Answer 1

• flooded in 2000 (and 2002, 2004, 2007, 2014)
• at Frankwell, Shrewsbury and at Bewdley and Tewkesbury
• field drains worsen problem

Question 2

Soft engineering methods used?

Answer 2

• land use zoning, car parks and playing fields aren’t protected
• during a flood they store water

Question 3

Hard engineering methods used?

Answer 3

• concrete flood walls
• earth embankments
• demountable flood barriers (made of aluminium panels)
• the walls hold the water back over a short distance

Question 4

Groups in favour of hard approaches?

Answer 4

• residents: wants homes to stop flooding, effective defenses
• house builder: wants more space to build (no washlands), wants houses to have a higher value/lower flood risk

Question 5

Groups in favour of soft approaches?

Answer 5

-RSPB rep: wants natural approaches to preserve wildlife

-River scientist: hard engineering could flood other places, creating more problems
soft engineering is cheaper/less problematic