Borders Flood Studies
What did we do in the past?
Scottish Borders Council (SBC) undertook a number of flood studies from 2005 – 2007 to assess the flood risk to several Borders Towns. On completion of these the Council agreed in September 2007 a prioritised programme for delivery of flood schemes in the Scottish Borders. Delivery of this programme has been on-going since this time: Galashiels Flood Prevention Scheme has been completed; Selkirk Flood Protection Scheme is currently under construction due for completion late 2016 and; Hawick Flood Protection Scheme is currently being developed with construction programmed 2019 – 2021.
How is flood risk managed now?
The inception of the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 changed the way in which flood risk is managed. The Act aims to prioritise national spending on flood mitigation using technical analysis to assess flood risk across Scotland. This approach has led to the development of the Flood Risk Management Strategies by SEPA and the Local Flood Risk Management Plans by the Scottish Borders Council.
In 2015, as part of the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 SEPA's Flood Risk Management Strategy (FRMS) and the local authorities’ Local Flood Risk Management Plan (LFRMP) identified a number of Potentially Vulnerable Areas (PVA) within the River Tweed and Liddel Water catchments. Within these PVA's a number of recommendations were made to undertake site specific detailed flood protection studies (amongst other flood risk management activities) to better inform the current flood risk to these communities and to investigate options for mitigation.
How will flood schemes be prioritised in the future?
The next and current stage is to prioritise nationally where funding should be allocated for flood protection schemes and to prioritise which areas of Scotland need further analysis through flood studies to inform the future management of flood risk. Formal Delivery of these schemes and studies along with other flood risk management actions is detailed in the Local Flood Risk Management Plans for the Tweed Local Plan District and Solway Local Plan District.
What do the Borders Flood Studies entail?
The Scottish Borders Council have been working collaboratively with Mott MacDonald and JBA Consulting to assess flood risk and to develop options to manage flood risk in the Scottish Borders. Based on SEPA's Flood Risk Management Strategy and the Scottish Borders Local Flood Risk Management Strategy the following sites were selected for further assessment and are included as part of this assessment:
- Peebles (including Innerleithen and Broughton)
- Newcastleton
- Earlston
This flood study (the Borders Flood Studies) was commissioned in order to gain a greater understanding of the flood mechanisms in each community, improve upon SEPA's Flood Risk Management maps, and provide an appraisal of options which could reduce flood risk.
What is the purpose of this website?
This website has been set up to host the information collated as part of the current studies and to provide you with information on scheme developments, to inform you of progress, and to allow you the opportunity to comment on our efforts through the Feedback page. It is our intention to keep this website updated as often as possible and to upload all critical project updates so that you may keep track of progress.
