Building flood resilience in Leeds through natural flood management

With climate change driving more extreme weather and increasing flood risks, the protection offered by traditional engineered defenses, such as flood walls, will reduce over time. Leeds, UK, experienced devastating floods on Boxing Day in 2015, prompting urgent action on long-term flood management and flood resilience.

 

To address this, Leeds City Council has adopted a catchment-wide approach to protecting homes and businesses from flood risk. Their strategy combines engineered flood alleviation measures with nature-based solutions to offset the impacts of climate change and establish a more climate-resilient environment.

Arcadis is working with Leeds City Council to help the region become more resilient. The Leeds Flood Alleviation – Natural Flood Management project aims to deliver large-scale natural flood management interventions throughout the 700 km² Upper River Aire Catchment. The project helps to store and slow water flow through the landscape before it reaches the River Aire, reducing downstream flooding.

These interventions are helping to create a more climate-resilient environment, enhancing flood alleviation capacity and reducing the impact of extreme rainfall events. By combining natural flood management with engineered protection in the city center, Leeds is improving flood resilience for communities both locally and downstream—building a sustainable and adaptive approach to flood management that protects people and the environment.

Watch this video to learn more about how Arcadis and Leeds City Council are using nature-based solutions to help the region become more flood resilient and improve the quality of life for its residents.