New project to safeguard Ruthin and St Asaph from flooding after heavy rainfall

FARMERS in the hills of Denbighshire are pioneering a project that will help protect two of the Vale of Clwyd’s main towns against the threat of devastating flooding.

Both Ruthin and St Asaph have suffered the misery and damage caused by flooding in the past 18 years after torrential rain overwhelmed existing river defences.

In November 2001 Ruthin was inundated for the third time in a year when a feeder stream to the River Clwyd overflowed after torrential rain; and in November 2012 severe flooding occurred in St Asaph when the River Elwy burst its banks after a similar deluge, while the newly-built Glasdir estate in Ruthin was also flooded.

But now a collaborative sustainable natural flood-risk management project rolled out by rural regeneration organisation Cadwyn Clwyd will aim to reduce the flow of rainwater and prevent surges from entering the River Clwyd following periods of heavy rain.

The scheme will encourage farmers in the upper reaches of the River Clwyd to plant new and restore old hedges, create small woodlands, shelter belts and streamside corridors, and use “leaky log” dams on hillside streams to hold back the surges of water that can cause disruptive floods.

Some soil management will also take place in order to reduce compaction and increase soil porosity.

This Natural Flood Risk Management project will spend £330,000 on an upland catchment area of the River Clwyd and a similar sum, managed separately by Coed Cymru, on the River Elwy which flows through St Asaph.

The funding was applied for under the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Management Scheme and follows an initial approach made by the local NFU group vice-chairman, Dafydd Jones of Pencoed, Pwllglas, on behalf of a group of farmer members.

This funding forms part of the Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014-20.

The Sustainable Management Scheme (SMS) provides financial support for a range of activities that will improve the management of natural resources and, in doing so, contribute to the wellbeing of rural communities.

According to Cadwyn Clwyd’s Gwyn Rowlands, the SMS will provide a measure of natural flood defences, but will also prove invaluable for the farmers involved as the hedgerows and woodlands will provide shelter for livestock, aid livestock management and reduce soil erosion.