Natural Flood Management Actions

Review funding strategy for the Calderdale Natural Flood Management programme to reflect how we scale up NFM, and use of Atkins modelling across catchment. Develop a wider understanding of opportunities that are available through the Leeds City Region Green Infrastructure Investment Plan and other local, regional and national funding strategies.

Complete tree planting to meet the tree canopy target for Calderdale of more than 6700ha by 2050 - in line with the Calderdale White Rose Forest action plan.

Work to address soil erosion and landslide stabilisation in the Upper Calder Catchment: Treating landslips with fascines; Removing Himalayan balsam; Removing/thinning shallow-rooted beech trees to encourage woodland growth.

Deliver physical NFM interventions to slow the flow and contribute to reducing downstream flood risk in high priority sub-catchments, particularly at Hebden Water, Walsden, Calder from Source, and Cragg Vale. Develop demonstration sites at multiple locations including Hardcastle Craggs and Gorpley.

Develop new initiatives for sustainable control and management of invasive species (follow up to action 81).

List natural flood management structures on an asset register and produce a natural flood management asset map of the catchment (links to action NFM3).

Review the plan to coordinate the engagement of landowners and land managers, (across the Calderdale Flood Partnership), to support landowners and land managers in identifying and implementing a range of natural flood management measures and publicise the extent of engagement.

Encourage more farmers across the Calder catchment to carry out and maintain Natural Flood Management, utilising SFI, Countryside Stewardship Plus, Calderdale landowner grant scheme and other incentives as available.

Seek funding for and implement a prioritised programme of ecological surveys in target NFM catchments.

Enhance the resilience of moorland habitats in the upper catchment against future risks such as climate change and wildfires – considering the likelihood and severity of the risks, protecting all associated outcomes, NFM, clean water provision and storage, carbon capture, biodiversity, local economy and community. Action will utilise the AMP8 Programme as a major building block of business development matching this to other relevant funds.

Model the risk of rural highway flooding and resulting impacts. Identify ways of using NFM solutions, where practical, for critical flood risk areas (rural highways).

To assist with providing evidence for NFM interventions, install river level monitoring sensors to enable river flows to be measured at a local scale.

Review of revised Clough Woodland Project Guiding Principles to support the following activities across the South Pennine Moors National Character Area: (1) Appropriate (careful and considered) design of landscape scale native broadleaved (clough) woodland creation schemes. (2) Gaining consent from Natural England under the Habitat Regulations, to ensure woodland creation does not have a detrimental impact on the interest features of designated/protected areas.

Promotion of monitoring guidance on an annual basis; make guidance available on Eye on Calderdale.

Collate and analyse NFM monitoring data collected through various modelling and partner projects. Identify effective NFM interventions and gaps in data monitoring.

Carry out modelling where required, to identify communities and properties where natural flood management measures could potentially reduce the risk of flooding.

Set up an open source to encourage partners to share NFM data and reports.

Collate and evaluate what is known about the connections between land management and flooding in general, and specifically in relation to the Calder catchment, including a gap analysis to advise further research where appropriate, to help inform strategic priorities for natural flood management and ensure affected communities can better understand that relationship.

Coordinate the production of NFM opportunity maps to show places where the risk of flooding could potentially be reduced through NFM techniques, and multiple benefits to people and the environment realised.

Investigate/model the impacts of boundary features to manage water flow pathways and attenuating flows to identify and understand any opportunities to reduce flood risk. Specifically looking at blocking features in water channels; hedges/walls/gates on the land.

Research the connection between NFM measures delivering overland flow interception on steep slopes and landslides.

Share learning from the developing DEFRA England Peat Strategy and current national moorland pilots to improve understanding of baseline function and input to the development of a new programme of Pennine moorland restoration post 2020. Investigate opportunities to produce a summary report on the current condition of Calderdale moorland.

Complete tree planting at Hardcastle Craggs and plant 50,000 trees in the Upper Calder catchment by the end of 2018.

Scope a clough woodland project to increase the extent of woodland at Hardcastle Crags to several Yorkshire Water sites in the Calder Valley. To be achieved by working with a range of partner organisations and private landowners.

Carry out a project to create plate weirs, woody debris and leaky dams on sites within and adjacent to Crimsworth Dean Beck, Hardcastle Craggs and Hebden Water to reduce flood water and flood peaks.

Investigate how heather cutting, as a preferred management technique, could be introduced into future land management agreements. Produce clear guidance for partners based on best practices.

Through the support of MoorLIFE 2020, identify priority blanket bog restoration areas and appropriate techniques within the South Pennine Moors Special Area of Conservation, located in the Upper Calder Valley.

Improve Clifton Beck as part of the Clifton Beck Diffuse Pollution Project which will also reduce the risk of flooding by creating buffer zone strips, planting trees and planting on river banks, restricting livestock access to the beck and removing invasive non-native plants.

Create wetland habitat and wet woodland, linked to environmental education work at Brearley Fields, Mytholmroyd.

The Calderdale Catchment plan will draw from the research projects into the learning identified across the 4 Pioneer projects. These should identify insights in terms of working with natural capital and partnership working, recognising the value of the environment across the health and economy agendas and helping to achieve environmental outcomes for local communities through broader collaboration.

Work with landowners to progressively review the three existing burning consents and agreements as part of the consideration for the long-term management requirements for the restoration of the blanket bog.