Revealed: Details of plans to stop Shropshire's regular flooding misery

The Environment Agency (EA) has published information about its much-anticipated strategy to reduce flooding in the Severn Valley.

The issue has been a growing concern in recent years, with thousands of homes and businesses from Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, Ironbridge, and a host of villages, all facing frequent flooding misery – largely as a result of the River Severn.

A six-week consultation on what is dubbed the 'Severn Valley Water Management Scheme' (SVWMS) opened earlier this week, and runs until May 21.

It reveals new details explaining how the EA plans to try and tame the River Severn, and stop the flooding pain.

While no firm plans have been developed for where the interventions may come, the EA's 'scoping report' reveals ambitions to combine "traditional engineering and Nature-based Solutions (NbS)".

The paper explains that new flood walls and embankments could be created, while natural management – such as tree planting, 'leaky dams', and alternative farming are all being considered.

The report also outlines the scale of the task ahead – with a need to store the equivalent of 65 billion litres of water to protect homes during flooding.

Listing potential methods for tackling the issue the EA said: "The SVWMS aims to devise an innovative and nature-positive programme, bringing together the best of both NbS and traditional engineering approaches.