Flood Resilience Consultancy
Effective flood and water management is vital in achieving climate resilience and environmental conservation. Increasing the use of Nature-based Solutions in particular will preserve ecosystems and provide natural defences against climate impacts to protect our water bodies and maintain biodiversity and ecological balance. Additionally, incorporating green/blue infrastructure in urban planning and retrofit helps manage stormwater, mitigate flooding, and improve water quality.
Water consultancy, transformed.
At Sweco, we draw upon a combined knowledge base of 22,000 experts across Northern Europe. More technologies, more skills, and more inventive solutions mean we can apply global knowhow, locally – across the full spectrum of lifecycle services in both water engineering and wider water management. More importantly, we have a proven record of transferring innovation from other countries and sectors into the UK water industry.
Mitigating flood risk through data
Our experts utilise cutting edge data to understand how flood risk will change as a result of climate change to allow our clients time to plan, fund and implement adaptive measures. We have been working with a major European port operator to assess the changing flood risk to their ports and Scotland fire service to help them better understand medium and longer-term risk from the natural and built environment.
Nature-based solutions and community-led change
We deliver Nature-based solutions at all scales. One project of note has been supporting the local community around our Leeds Head Office by working with the Friends of Gledhow Valley Woods (FGVW) to address sedimentation and water quality issues in Gledhow Beck and lake whilst improving wildlife habitat.
The site was experiencing several challenges: sediment from the valley slopes; combined sewer overflows (CSOs); misconnections; and road drainage outfalls. Optioneering was undertaken to provide a holistic, nature first approach to mitigate sediment transport and improve water quality. The proposed options included:
- Bunding of the southern side of the lake.
- Dead hedges which would capture sediment entering the lake.
- Erosion protection to stabilise banks.
- Leaky dams to attenuate small volumes of water and reduce sediment movement.
- Flow detectors on the valley slope to help slow and disconnect the overland flow.
- Buffer zones in the form of bank top planting.
- Reed beds to filter pollutants and improve water quality.
The FCVW are currently constructing our designs and David Miles, Community engagement lead, Friends of Gledhow Valley Woods commented: “The (Sweco) project has significantly improved the woods for wildlife and we have received really positive feedback from the local “.
Flood risk assessment
Our experts are providing flood risk advice for new developments; delivering flood risk protection in affected areas and developing resilience schemes for existing communities.
For example, our Comrie Flood Protection Scheme has progressed through initial and detail design for Perth and Kinross Council and the contractor is currently on site delivering the scheme for the community of Comrie.
We recognise that an infrastructure led flood scheme is not always viable for a range of reasons, therefore we work with Local Authorities to ensure that the best option is rapidly identified. This could be based upon Property Level Flood Resilience measures, which can be quickly and efficiently delivered.
Flood risk management
Sweco’s flood risk management consultants have extensive collective expertise in various fields, including hydrology, network and fluvial modelling, field surveys, geomorphology, natural processes, ecology, design, and economic assessments. This diverse knowledge enables us to assist our clients in tackling modern flood risk management challenges.
Our specialists are equipped to guide you through every phase of flood protection and Surface Water Resources Management Schemes, ensuring compliance with regulations while ultimately safeguarding individuals and communities. We formulate strategies aimed at enhancing climate change resilience for existing flood defence assets, incorporating approaches like Natural Flood Management.
At Sweco, we advocate for innovative solutions that align with natural processes, maximising sustainability and delivering multiple benefits. Our interventions are designed to be adaptable, keeping pace with our evolving understanding of climate change and future land use. In urban environments, these solutions may include retrofitting surface water systems and sustainable drainage, which contribute to creating new habitats, enhancing biodiversity, improving water treatment, providing flood attenuation, and boosting overall amenity.
When needed, Sweco can leverage a vast array of interconnected, in-house skills and expertise to implement traditional solutions, such as flood walls, bunds, and underground drainage systems.
Surface water management planning and SuDS
Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) are an integral part of the blue-green infrastructure (BGI) approach to water management – a nature-based solution which provides an alternative to traditional pipe and sewer networks. Sweco can deliver all phases of SuDS design, from feasibility study to construction support.
Our water resource management consultants provide sustainability-first expertise and infrastructure engineering support in hydrology, drainage (SuDS), flood risk assessment, water quality, river engineering and restoration and wider associated water solutions.
Catchment-based assessment
Our industry leading experts have worked with Anglian Water to supply a pathfinder study demonstrating how Nature-based Solutions can be delivered at a catchment scale as an alternative for large scale engineered (or grey) solutions. We provided smart catchment-based solutions using sewer modelling for Northumbrian Water to enhance combined sewer capacity using all available network capacity before allowing CSO spills.
Placemaking – Land use, spatial planning and decision-making
Our collaborative approach to placemaking in a multi-agency project is demonstrated through the Queensland Gardens and Drive project as part of the Hillington SWMP. In addition to consultations with key stakeholders, Scottish Water, SNH, GCC, SEPA, GCGN, SSE and Network Rail, we engaged with Southside Housing Association (SHA) who instigated a side by side community led project for further investment into car parking and landscaping across the site. We assisted with their successful bid for Green Infrastructure Funding which utilised matched funding on the basis of our SWMP project.
We have co-designed with their Landscape Architects and other bodies such as the 10,000 Raingardens projects to produce a combined project that is being proposed as an exemplar SWMP which will be put forward for Building with Nature accreditation. This approach resulted in a Planning Application incorporating both projects which was accepted with minor queries (despite a change of SHA Landscape Architects which resulted in a major design change during the planning process). The project was successfully completed in 2023.
River Restoration
Our team of civil engineers and water environment consultants have extensive experience in the diversion and restoration of rivers and can provide advice on best practice, regulatory policy and statute law for all aspects of river engineering works.
We are working on the restoration of the Cantley stream near Norwich, this has historically been artificially straightened and maintained for agricultural purposes, the channel will be realigned and include a series of pools and riffles with habitats created for water voles and otters.
Processes and tools
We are proficient in the use of all industry standard modelling packages including Infoworks ICM, Flood Modeller Pro and Microdrainage / Infodrainage. To ensure that our clients funds and time are directed to the areas where reductions in flood risk can be achieved we utilise the most appropriate tool for the projects requirements whether this be through simple proof of concept modelling utilising Scalgo or complex specialist flow change / scour assessments through CFD modelling.
Groundwater
Our Water Environment team of both surface and groundwater experts puts us in an enviable position to provide a coherent understanding of the risks and, more critically, the causes of flooding. Flooding can often be caused by groundwater in catchments with high baseflow rivers, where antecedent conditions of high groundwater levels and baseflow can be a key factor to flooding events, where these can prime the river for future floods.
We can provide groundwater flooding advise for new developments during assessment and design stage, to ensure both that designs are appropriate to the ground conditions, and that solutions are fit for purpose.
The design of SuDs also needs to give due consideration to groundwater as not only can it result in the loss of attenuation capacity but in some scenarios could give rise to an increase in flood risk downgradient.
Your one-stop partner for water engineering and management
Sweco’s dual water consultancy and asset management capability allows us to think differently – combining front-end strategy, innovative digital delivery and optimised operation with industry-leading critical infrastructure, carbon, biodiversity and sustainability expertise as we drive the sector towards net zero through Nature-based Solutions, systems thinking and adaptive planning.
