After experiencing the wettest month on record in September of last year, Oxfordshire County Council has set into motion a new Local Flood Risk Management Strategy. The council formally approved the plan on the 21st of January, and has commissioned Wallingford Hydrosolutions to develop the plan.
The plan will take place over five years and will also consider the long–term implications of climate change. This follows a public consultation and the formation of an Oxfordshire strategic flood risk group that took place in December of last year. The plan focuses most on “local flood risk resulting from surface water, groundwater and ordinary watercourse flooding.”
The plan outlines five objectives: “improving understanding, greater collaboration, ensuring holistic and sustainable approaches are used, preventing increases in flood risk, and improved communication.” The new strategy responds to an ongoing trend of increasingly frequent and intense floods in the region.
Councillor Dr Pete Sudbury, Deputy Leader with responsibility for Climate Change, Environment and Future Generations, told Cherwell that there has been an “extraordinary number of flooding events in Oxfordshire.” He described multiple months of rainfall as “extreme.”
Dr Sudbury also commented that “tackling flooding is the first really big battle in the war against climate change.” In his opinion, the issue is set to continue, as “there is no IPCC emissions pathway that stops Sea Surface temperatures rising before 2070.”
The impact of the ongoing heavy rainfall has long affected rowers. A Cherwell investigation from last year found that rowers on the Cherwell were only unable to row 61% of the time, whilst rowers on the Godstow were unable to row 85% of the time.
A second year rower from Lincoln College told Cherwell: “River conditions have been remarkably poor, not just recently but over the past few years. We’ve seen more red and black flags, making the river inappropriate for novice outings.”
