Shipston Area Flood Action Group
Phil Wragg and Geoff Smith reported on a busy year for the Shipston Area Flood Action Group, which had continued its work in slowing river flow, managing to implement 270 measures in areas upstream of the town – and a total of 694 altogether in the past three years. Interventions have included dams, ponds and tree planting, and installing monitoring equipment at Ditchford Farm.
With funding from DEFRA and the Environment Agency, and involvement in three academic studies, the group is seen as a key contributor to natural water management. The team of around 12 will be continuing their monitoring throughout this winter across the 198km2 catchment to see how the schemes are working, and has a full programme of works planned throughout 2021.
To the right is one of the 600+ dams in action, slowing the water’s passage downstream. This is on Sutton Brook upstream from Brailes. There is also an attenuation pond at Ditchford Farm which will fill up in flood conditions and hold back over one million litres of water for several hours before slowly releasing it back into a stream feeding Pig Brook.