Current position and challenges

3.128  Flood risk management authorities in England have in recent years been able to provide steadily improving levels of protection to households and other properties and assets in areas at risk of flooding (see Chart 3.O). Since April 2004, over 320,000 households have been provided with improved levels of protection, and the condition of existing flood risk management assets has also improved to the stage where currently 98 per cent of assets in high consequence areas are at or above target condition.

3.129 Figure 3.D shows how recent flood investments have targeted the areas most at risk in England.

3.130  Flood and coastal risk management will need to adapt to climate change. It is predicted that:

•  sea levels will rise over the coming decades;

•  the frequency and severity of rainstorms will progressively increase; and

•  as a result, the risk of coastal flooding and erosion will increase.

3.131  Combined with an expanding population, the need for increased economic output and a finite supply of land that is naturally free from risk, this represents an increasing challenge for government, local authorities and communities. Scenarios by the Environment Agency suggest that if asset investment levels on maintenance and improvement were kept at their 2010 level, 330,000 more properties would be at significant risk of flooding than now by 2035.15 The new Partnership Funding arrangement and more efficient procurement of flood and coastal erosion management measures are therefore key to continuing to tackle this challenge in the face of constrained public finances.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

15  Investing for the future, Environment Agency, 2009