How Leeds is pioneering mass tree planting to protect against flooding

摘要

Flooding of the River Aire and its tributaries in late 2015 caused damage put at E500m, following record rainfall across northern England and southern Scotland. Eager not to see this repeated, Leeds City Council is spending millions on a "catchment-wide approach" to flood prevention that will include planting "many hundreds of thousands" of new trees upstream of the city.Much of phase one of the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme (LFAS1) to protect the city centre, at a cost of E50m, is already in place. Now, following a Government-funded study in partnership with the Environment Agency and civil engineers, phase two proposals concentrate on upstream measures, combining natural flood management through tree planting and so-called "debris dams" with new infrastructure such as control gates for water retention and riverbank protection.