Boscastle flood management

• date: 16th August 2004
• -village downstream of confluence of rivers Valency and Jordan
• -month's worth of rainfall in two hours

  -extremely wet summer = ground already saturated
• -drainage basin of Boscastle is steep and impermeable rock
• -flood defence scheme: investment of £10million
• -widening and deepening of river channel - river can carry more water and to slow the flow of the river
• -removing low bridge and replacing with wider bridges - large amounts of water flow freely and bridge wouldn't act as a dam
• -raising car park and using a permeable surface - cars are less likely to be swept away
• -tree management - dead trees removed, land owners encouraged to maintain vegetation and plant new trees
• -residents' lives disrupted for years during construction
• -scheme cost £5million
• -greater protection against major floods but wouldn't protect against 2004 ever again.
• -residents don't like the new bridge. It isn't "in-keeping"
• -vegetation and river habitats now continuously managed, biodiversity and habitats have improved
• -new channel has been engineered to look natural and function as normal river