General flood information

What we are doing about flooding

Here are a few of the world-leading projects and initiatives we are working with the help manage flood risk in Hull -

• we are working with other key partners through the Living with Water partnership to deliver the Blue-Green Plan
• we work with local community groups, local and national politicians to raise awareness of flood risk and the impacts it can have on people’s lives
• we visit schools and run workshops to share our understanding of flood risk with the next generation of climate champions
• we are building innovative flood alleviation schemes to hold back, store and convey excess water across the city in a way to reduce flood risk and also benefit nature
• we are working closely with other Council departments to deliver multi-benefit spaces across the city

We are continually working with others to better understand how we can reduce flood risk in a changing climate. You can keep informed with updates.

Roles and responsibilities for flooding

In Hull, there are 4 risk management authorities (RMA) with roles and responsibilities for flooding.

These are - 

• us
• East Riding of Yorkshire Council
• Environment Agency
• and Yorkshire Water

Each RMA is responsible for a different type of flood risk, with the Environment Agency having a strategic overview role for all sources of flooding. Further information on roles and responsibilities is available in Appendix 2 of our Local Flood Risk Management Strategy.

Flooding and planning

National Policy set by the Government, decides what kind of development can be built in areas depending on what flood zone it is in. This means not building bungalows or having sleeping arrangements on ground floors in high-risk areas and identifying a place of safety in the event of a flood.

Hull is a city built on former marshland that was drained so that the land could be farmed and habitable. With the closeness to the Humber Estuary and the River Hull, Hull is a city built on the floodplain. However, flood modelling identifies zones, and these zones determine what type of development can be built there.

Dredging

Historically, dredging was regularly carried out for navigation as the River Hull was heavily used for the maritime industry. This is no longer necessary since the decline in the number of ships using the river.

Dredging is sometimes used as a method to reduce flood risk. The idea behind dredging is to allow water to flow as quickly as possible from one point to another and in some cases, this is an effective method. However, it is not always effective or sustainable and it can increase flood risk downstream.

In Hull, our watercourses and rivers are tidally influenced – this means fresh sediment is brought in with every high tide. Sediment is also added into the drainage system upstream as land is predominantly agricultural and depending on land management practises upstream, sediment can be washed into rivers when it rains.

We do not dredge rivers because -

• there is little natural flow in rivers in Hull because it is flat, so dredging would not speed up the movement of water, we use pumping stations to move water through the city
• it would not be sustainable to dredge as sediment is added to the system quickly
• it would be bad for plants and wildlife who live along the river as dredging disturbs their habitats and feeding spots and also stirs up sediment, which could be contaminated from historical industrial activity
• it’s also very expensive to dispose of contaminated sediment if it is removed

For more information, access Floods and dredging – a reality check.

The demand on financial and physical resources to dredge all watercourses is extremely high and has relatively lower value for money than a lot of the flood mitigation work we regularly do. It has been estimated for a city like Hull that dredging the rivers would only buy a few minutes of time in a flooding scenario. 

To manage flood risk effectively and sustainably in Hull, we are creating areas to store excess water during times of high flows and then safely releasing it into the drainage system when it has capacity. This method involves a mixture of blue green solutions, which use nature-based solutions, like sustainable drainage systems, alongside traditional flood infrastructure, like flood walls. Our Blue Green Plan is available for more information.

Blocked drains

We have an active and continual maintenance programme to clear drains, gullies and watercourses. If you spot a blocked drain or gully, you can report this here.

Flood risk in the future

Flood risk is going to increase for everyone, everywhere. Flooding is a global issue, and it is the biggest natural threat to our region.

Scientific modelling predicts that we are going to experience wetter winters and more frequent intense rainfall events. Climate change is already impacting us, we can see this in the frequency and magnitude of recent storms. It is hard to know exactly how flood risk will change in the future but we do know that the more actions we take now, the more prepared we can be.