Flood risk management

Bradford District Local Flood Risk Management

Under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (CBMDC) is the Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA). The Council maintains council owned watercourses, clears grilles of debris at hotspots, advises on flood risk, designs drainage schemes, inspects and maintains council owned culverts, pumping stations and reservoir inspections. Through the planning process we provide consultation responses to mitigate flood risk due to development and we work closely with partners during flood events.

As LLFA we:

• have prepared a strategic level Local Flood Risk Management Strategy (LFRMS) for Bradford District to reduce local flood risk from surface water, ordinary watercourses, groundwater and reservoirs
• work closely with other key stakeholders to ensure delivery of effective joined up flood risk management
• complete a Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment (PFRA) and provide Annexe updates
• prepare Surface Water Management Plans for areas at greatest risk when identified through the planning cycle
• investigate flooding incidents in order to understand their cause and ensure that appropriate agencies play their part in the effective management and resolution of flooding incidents.

Bradford Council oversees all 'ordinary' (non-main river) watercourses and has the legal powers to make landowners remove watercourse obstructions. Our Highways department is responsible for the maintenance of Highway drainage systems and gullies. The Environment Agency remains the risk management authority responsible for managing risk from the rivers Aire, Wharfe and Ouse along with other main rivers and Yorkshire Water is responsible for managing risk from sewer flooding.

Please see below for details of the LFRMS and PFRA.

Bradford District Initial Assessments

Following the flood event of 2015, the Environment Agency and City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council have identified priority locations for further work or detailed investigations. The reports produced are known as Initial Assessments (IAs).

The locations identified were broadly grouped within:

1. Silsden
2. Keighley and Stockbridge
3. Bingley and Airedale
4. Baildon and Shipley
5. Esholt and Apperley Bridge
6. Ilkley

What are Initial Assessments?

Initial Assessments (IAs) are desktop studies undertaken to provide a summary for each location and enable us to determine whether further spending of resources on appraisal work is justified.

The IAs provide an overview of the area, the flooding history and problems, the number of properties at risk of flooding, the options that could reduce risk in that given area and any positive or negative environmental impacts that may arise as a result. All sources of flooding are considered. The benefits (reduced number of properties at risk, improved environment) are then assessed against the economic cost of a number of projects to determine whether a practical, sustainable and justified solution is achievable or whether a project should take a different course or be stopped altogether.

In summary the IAs allow partners to better understand the reasons for flooding and the costs of tackling the sources of flooding. This will mean partners are in a better position to progress particular projects in the future should funding become available.

The completed IAs are available on this page. There is also a more detailed explanation of IAs, how they are produced and what information needs to be considered.

The outputs from the IAs are supporting the development of the Bradford Flood Programme, which includes initiatives such as:

• modelling assessments of upstream storage options
• surface water modelling
• in-water debris clearance at the Initial Assessment locations, in partnership with the Aire Rivers Trust stewardship project
• resident and business Flood Resilience and Community Engagement information packs