Flood repair works planned for Lower River Aire

A repair package of works up to £10 million has been proposed for the Lower River Aire washlands that were affected by devastating floods.

Since the flooding in February, Environment Agency staff have inspected and maintained 130km of river banks and identified more than 40 locations on the lower River Aire that require repair work due to the damage caused during last autumn and winter.

The repair works are needed to return the flood defenses back to their pre-flood condition.

Temporary repairs have already been made to those defenses requiring the most urgent attention, including the washland reservoir embankments known as Poor Bank and Pickhill Bank between Heck, Gowdall and the Snaith washlands.

Washlands are areas of land adjacent to rivers which are designed to store water at times when the river levels are high.

Teams have also been working within Government guidelines to clear away flood debris along the Lower River Aire over the last month and have started their regular program of grass cutting of flood defense banks to enable inspection and maintain their condition.