Environment Agency Wales
staff are working
to clear a fallen tree that is blocking
the River Cynon in Abercynon and causing
a flood risk to the town.
A member of the public
reported the river blockage near Park Road
in Abercynon, on Wednesday last week. Staff
visited the site of the blockage on Thursday
and clearance work began on Friday. Work
has carried on since then and the river
should be clear on Tuesday.
Andy Dedman from Ops Delivery at Environment
Agency Wales, said: "The clearance
has taken a few days to complete as the
work has had to be carried out by hand.
We are very grateful to the person who reported
this blockage to us as we rely on members
of the public to report problems when they
spot them."
Environment Agency Wales' priority is to
protect people from the effects of flooding
from rivers and the sea. While the risk
of flooding can be reduced, the Agency cannot
eliminate all future flooding so it’s important
for communities to be prepared.
Flood Awareness Wales
can help you find out if your home or business
is at risk and provide advice on what you
can do to prepare for this, reduce the impact
of flood water on your property and ensure
your own personal safety in a flood .
And you can call Floodline
0845 988 1188 to find out if you are able
to sign up to receive free advance warning
of flooding from rivers and the sea. Floodline
Warnings Direct provides advance warning
of flooding direct by telephone, mobile,
email, SMS text message or fax.
+ More
Environment Agency Wales
delivers innovative flood protection project
set to help local wildlife and re-create
lost salt marsh
The Ynys Hir Nature
Reserve on the Dyfi Estuary is set to benefit
from an innovative Environment Agency Wales
scheme to improve flood protection for the
local railway line and help wildlife by
re-creating the area’s lost salt marsh.
The £20,000 Environment
Agency Wales funded improvement project
is currently being delivered at the RSPB
owned nature reserve. In addition to building
a new flood bank, the Agency is creating
holes in two older flood banks to allow
sea water to return to areas that were previously
salt marsh and lost to agriculture over
50 years ago.
The holes in these older
flood banks will enable sea water to pass
through the defences during high spring
tides to flood areas of pasture behind them.
New salt marsh is expected to quickly develop
creating around six hectares of this precious
wildlife habitat.
Material for the new
bank has been sourced locally from two ‘borrow
pits’ which will be managed as salt water
wildlife lagoons to support rare and unique
wildlife.
Environment Agency Wales
Biodiversity Technical Specialist Dave Thorpe
explains the innovative approach: “As far
as we’re aware this project is the first
of its kind in Wales to combine salt marsh
creation with improved flood protection.
The new flood bank will be wider, taller
and more robust than the historic banks
and will be inspected on an annual basis
to ensure it is operating as normal. We
also want to re-instate the salt marsh as
it’s a valuable wildlife habitat and will
provide a natural flood defence for the
land behind it. This process of re-instating
salt marsh behind old defences is called
‘managed retreat.’ It has been widely used
elsewhere in the UK to provide more sustainable
defences that also support valuable habitats
for wildlife.
“Rising sea levels can
‘squeeze out’ existing salt marsh where
this is next to hard man-made defences and
infrastructure such as railway lines and
we’re currently working to help halt salt
marsh loss across Wales. Salt marsh is a
nationally important and valuable wildlife
habitat supporting a wide range of wildlife
including unique plant species, insects
and juvenile fish as well as birds. Ynys
Hir is adjacent to an internationally protected
salt marsh site and this is why we were
keen to deliver this multi-benefit flood
defence improvement project.”
Environment Agency Wales
has conducted extensive liaison with the
RSPB (the landowners), Countryside Council
for Wales, Ceredigion Council, Network Rail
and the Archaeological Trust in advance
of the work to ensure the project can be
delivered successfully.
The scheme is due to
be completed by the end of this year.
Environment Agency Wales
has a key role in enhancing local environments
and water-related biodiversity. It aims
to minimise the impact on wildlife from
its own activities and the activities of
those it regulates. It helps wildlife by
controlling pollution, regulating abstraction
and delivering water-related habitats and
species improvements through its flood-risk
management work and other activities including
local-level collaborative projects.
2010 is the International
Year of Biodiversity (IYB) as declared by
the United Nations. As part of the Government-backed
partnership supporting IYB, Environment
Agency Wales urges everyone to do one thing
to help preserve and improve water-related
biodiversity across Wales.
To find out more, visit
the following websites:
Wales Biodiversity Partnership:
http://www.biodiversitywales.org.uk/local_to_you-3.aspx
Environment Agency:
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/wildlife/default.aspx
