Downton’s Flood Plan

Iron-Bridge

Introduction

The risk of flooding at Downton is an outcome of the complex river system upstream of it.  At Salisbury the Rivers Bourne, Nadder and Wylye join the River Avon and just after Salisbury the River Ebble joins.

The Water Meadows and Flood Defence Ctee is responsible for managing the parish’s preparedness and response to floods.  Their Terms of Reference and members can be found on their committee page.

The majority of the Downton parish lies in the River Avon valley and is at risk from flooding.  A key defence against flooding is the management of the water meadows and its network of sluices, ditches, watercourses etc.  Key rivers are defined by the Environment Agency as Main Rivers – see their main river mapping website.  Making changes to designated main rivers requires the approval of the Environment Agency.  Other watercourses requires the approval of the lead local flood authority (Wiltshire Council).  If a water course cross or borders your property then you have defined responsibilities and obligations – see gov.uk advice.

The headings below reflect the key phases that a flood event would progress through.

Assess Your Risk

To see if you could be at risk of flooding there are useful pages from the Environment Agency website are:
– for Downton see link           – for Charlton All Saints see link

Be Prepared

Have a look at the guides from the Environment Agency (EA) and the National Flood Forum (NFF):

  1. How to be prepared for a Future Flood – see EA link or the NFF Link
  2. Guidance on being prepared for flooding – see EA link or the NFF link.

Monitor

On the EA site you can also subscribe to alerts delivered to email / mobile – see link. There are three levels of flood updates
Flood Alert icon Flood Alert  Flood Warning iconFlood Warning  Severe Flood Warning iconSevere Flood Warning

Have a look at the map, gauge details and flood alerts/warnings from the UK governments Flood Information Service:
DowntonCharlton All Saints

There’s a Smart phone app, RiverApp, which with some setup provides mobile access to the various river gauges.

There’s also a newly launched web site that displays details of the various water level gauges – https://www.gaugemap.co.uk/ and here’s an example for the Iron Bridge, the black line shows the highest possible level from Jan 2014.  Have a look at the River Gauges page to see selected gauges of the key rivers.

For regular updates from the Wiltshire Council please follow @WiltshireWinter on Twitter or visit www.wiltshire.gov.uk/civilemergencies/emergencynotices for any road closures or services affected by the weather. The team will provide a daily update which will continue until the flood risk is no longer present.


Get Ready & Respond to a Flood Event

The Parish Council has developed a Community Flood Plan for Downton.  Prepare your property for imminent flooding – see EA link See what to do during a flood – NFF link and the gov.uk link

Recover from a Flood Event

See what to do after a flood – NFF link and the .gov.uk link

Report Incidents to Wessex Water

Wessex Water would like anyone who has experienced any problems to log them via the details below. This way they can record the levels of concern and will help in identifying hot spots.  Phone Operational enquiries on 0845 600 4600 or email to operational.enquiries@wessexwater.co.uk or write to Operational Customer Services, Wessex Water, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7WW