1) It is low lying 2) water from 2 major rivers, the Thames & the Cherwell meet in Oxford 3) Agricultural activities 4) much of area is covered by clay=impermeable 5) Floodplain development 6) bridges hold back debris
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Name the 2 main ways in which flood risk at Oxford has been managed
Land use zoning and Flood relief schemes
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What is land use zoning?
areas close to the river that are most liable to flooding are given over to farming etc other than housing & development
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What areas in Oxford have been involved in land use zoning?
Cherwell valley (farming) Port Meadow (recreation) Magdalene college playing fields (sports grounds)
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What is a negative result of land use zoning?
causes economic disruption
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What do flood relief channels include?
channel dredging, flood prevention schemes, levees, channel scour and straightening
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What has this positively led to?
localised declines in peak flood levels and the length of flood periods
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What positive comes from urbanisation?
Improved land drainage has the potential for increasing and decreasing flood levels. If runoff is increased, less water remains in the soil and the potential for the soil to become saturated is reduced
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What are the two major proposed flood management strategies?
Flood relief channel and Water storage areas
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What size would the channel be?
8km long, 25m wide
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Where would the channel start and end?
Start at the Thames at Binsey, finish at Sandford lock
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How much would it cost (est)
£100 million
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Why are the problems with getting permission for this scheme?
would potentially impact upon the Oxford Meadows Special Area of Conservation and Iffley Meadows Site of Special Scientific Interest
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What would the water storage areas consist of?
large areas of farmland that would be allowed to flood
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Name some other small pioneering projects backed by the EA (Environment Agency)
The EA has reinstated meanders on stretches of the river Windrush. On Otmoor, near Oxford, the RSPB has raised water levels on 267 hectares of formerly arable land & also created a 22 hectare reed-bed reservoir.
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How much water does the reserve hold back?
upwards of 1/2 million cubic metres of winter rain.
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Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
Name the 2 main ways in which flood risk at Oxford has been managed
Back
Land use zoning and Flood relief schemes
Card 3
Front
What is land use zoning?
Back
Card 4
Front
What areas in Oxford have been involved in land use zoning?
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