Association of Drainage Authorities

💧Modern Drainage Boards are about smart water level management. Despite a dry spring/summer, levels behind our new tilting weirs in Pevensey remain high! Funded by DEFRA’s IDB Storm Recovery Fund, we're boosting water retention for both farming & nature. 🌿🚜 #PevenseyWLMB #IDBFunding #Tranche2

An interesting read as we consider the role of ditches in managing water levels, especially in lowland agricultural peatlands to reduce degradation and carbon emissions. 👇

Credit: ITV Anglia News In response to the Government’s announcement of an additional £16 million for Tranche 2B of the IDB Storm Recovery and Asset Improvement Fund, the ITV News team visit the Broads IDB Horsey Pumping Station Replacement, part of the wider Upper Thurne Integrated Drainage Project to find out more about investment in our water management infrastructure. 31 March 2025 – ITV Anglia News visit the Broads IDB Horsey Pumping Station Replacement Project

Speaking on ITV Anglia News last night, our Deputy CEO, Matthew Philpot, highlighted the #BroadsIDB Horsey Pumping Station Replacement, part of the wider Upper Thurne Integrated Drainage Project.
📺 Watch: youtu.be/eeEqdgVvmfM
🌿 More: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/norfol...

Join us for a drop-in & Q&A session on the Snape flood defences!
📅 7th April 2025
⏰ 4pm–6:45pm (Project Presentation at 5:45pm)
📍 Snape Village Hall, IP17 1RN
Meet engineers & representatives from key organisations to hear the latest updates. See you there!
#EastSuffolkWMB

We’re proud to have been finalists at the @EDP Clean & Green Awards with 2 outstanding projects
While we didn’t take home a win, it’s an honor to be recognised alongside such inspiring work
Congrats to all winners & thanks to our #BroadsIDB & #WLYLIDB teams and partners
@ukceh.bsky.social

ADA welcomes further Government funding to support floods recovery and water management - Association of Drainage Authorities ADA welcomes the news today (Monday 31 March 2025) that the Government has pledged a further £16 million towards helping internal drainage boards (IDBs) recover from the very damaging floods […]

ADA welcomes further Government funding to support floods recovery and water management www.ada.org.uk/2025/03/ada-...

IDB volunteers to clean neglected National Highways runoff pond linked to A421 flooding What is a balancing pond? Balancing ponds which sit next to highways which are part of the strat...

An internal drainage board (IDB) in Bedfordshire has volunteered to clean out a balancing pond owned by National Highways to mitigate the impacts of road runoff, which was linked to flooding near the village of Marston Moretaine in autumn 2024

Full story:

Robert Caudwell, Chair of ADA and chair of the Lowland Agricultural Peat Task Force talking about the next steps for multifunctional water storage

Paul Burrows, Chief Executive of the Middle Level Commissioners presenting in Ely at the Fenland SOILS conference. With map of the Middle level system behind him

Slides about IDBs and the Lowland Agricultural Peat Small Infrastructure Pilot grant scheme funded by Defra

Slides about IDBs and the Lowland Agricultural Peat Small Infrastructure Pilot grant scheme funded by the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra)

Pleasure to be able to speak today at Fenland SOIL Conference in Ely about #internaldrainageboards. Thinking about the water level management challenges & opportunities for our lowland landscape & peat soils. IDBs watercourse networks & assets are a key part in retaining & distributing water safely

YouTube video by Practical Engineering Why are the Dutch So Famous for Waterworks?

Why are the Dutch So Famous for Waterworks? youtu.be/qQCB3N8Vaxk?si… Enjoying the new #PracticalEngineering on @googleyoutube.bsky.social by Grady Hillhouse

Small waters in our lowland landscape play a key role in conveying & storing water to help manage flood risk and water levels. They are often overlooked refuges for wildlife & provide important habitat. With careful management both can be achieved. Good to see them highlighted in this new report 👇

ADA discusses bufferstrips for lowland watercourses with Defra - Association of Drainage Authorities By Ian Moodie MSci, Technical Manager, ADA On 24 October Defra, Environment Agency and Natural England colleagues met with ADA and the Middle Level Commissioners in the Fens to discuss […]

In October ADA and Defra discussed #bufferstrip stewardship options for lowland watercourses maintained by #internaldrainageboards and other risk management authorities. Main topics included deposition of arisings and best practice for channel/bankside maintenance 👇

www.ada.org.uk/2024/12/ada-...

Cover of the Winter 2024 edition of the ADA Gazette. Pictures is Witham Fourth District Internal Drainage Board's Hobhole Pumping Station working flat out at night during Storm Babet in November 2023.

Read latest edition of our members magazine 📰, the ADA Gazette 👇
📢Floods Minister's announcement at ADA Conference
🇪🇸Catastrophic floods in Valencia
🦺Reservoir safety update
💦New Broads pump station
🌡️Fens Climate Risk Assessment
🦫Beaver training
📏PeatCam LAPSIP project

www.ada.org.uk/communicatio...

With kind permission of the #EnvironmentAgency we have recently put a photographic guide to #beaver 🦫 field signs on the Environment Knowledge page of our website 👇
www.ada.org.uk/knowledge/en...

ADA hosts Beaver Licence Training - Association of Drainage Authorities ADA recently hosted a beaver licencing training course for water level managers in East Kent. The two day event took place, at the request of ADA’s Environment Forum, on 19 […]

We recently hosted training on #beaver 🦫 management for #InternalDrainageBoard & Canal&RiverTrust environment officers when they need to modify or remove dams burrows & lodges for their #flood & #waterlevelmanagement work.
Thanks to Natural England EA & RiverStourIDB.
www.ada.org.uk/2024/12/ada-...

ADA Environment Day 2025 - Association of Drainage Authorities We are excited to be hosting ADA’s third annual Environment Day on Wednesday 5 February 2025 at Park Farm, Thorney, near Peterborough. The event is kindly sponsored by Xylem. This free in-person event...

Our Environment Day will include presentations on retaining water safely for our lowland #peat soils, assessing the risk of climate change in The Fens, restoring the River Nar in Norfolk, invasive mink, drainage channel fauna and flora, and beavers. 2/2

Find out more: www.ada.org.uk/2024/12/ada-...

Banner about the ADA Environment Day with a photo of flowering aquatic plants in a Fenland drainage channel managed by an internal drainage board. Details of date of event 05 February 2025, venue Park Farm, Thorney and sponsorship from Xylem

We'll be holding our third annual Environment Day in the heart of the Fens on Weds 05 Feb 2025. Sponsored by Xylem the day is aimed at those who play a role in managing, maintaining, and governing safe water levels and flood risk infrastructure across our lowland water landscapes. 1/2

Or even simply Water Level Authorities

Interesting future thinking from our friends and colleagues in 🇳🇱, wonder what the vision would look like for Internal Drainage Boards across England's lowlands. Perhaps better defining their role as local Water Level Management Authorities

ADA has started the search for our next Chairperson. The successful candidate will initially become ADA’s Deputy Chair in November/December 2025 with a mandate to succeed Robert Caudwell OBE as ADA’s Chair at our AGM in 2026. If you are interested we'd love to hear from you
www.ada.org.uk/vacancies

Many #internaldrainageboards officers here with LAPSIP small infrastructure pilots to retain water safely to conserve our lowland peat soils.
www.gov.uk/government/p...

Useful discussions at the #lowlandpeatforum organised by the Defra Soil & Peat team. Lots to learn from science & research, conservation, agriculture, and water management experts in the room.

Map of UK with circled numbers indicating percentage of 1991-2020 river flow average for October 2024, and a key to show whether it is exceptionally high flow, notably high flow, above normal, normal range, below normal, notably low flow or exceptionally low flow

UK Hydrological Summary for October published earlier this week:

☔️Rainfall was 84% of average for the UK
🏞️ River flows were below normal for most of Scotland and above normal in much of England

🔗 mailchi.mp/ceh/october-...

Surge residual (total water level minus tide) map for the UK on Saturday evening. Surge on the north west coast of England of over 1m. At that time low levels in the southern North Sea. High levels will follow there later.

Looking quite a storm surge 🌊 for #StormBert
ntslf.org/storm-surges...
Fortunately, we're in neap tides, which will help in some places.

Edit: *embarked should be embanked

In the classroom learning about beavers ecology, licencing and management at the Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory

Beaver gnawing

Beaver foraging channel through a reedbed

Learning from Natural England's Reserve Warden at Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve

Very grateful to our trainers and guides from Natural England, Environment Agency, and River Stour IDB. We learnt so much & enjoyed sharing our learning & insights about benefits, challenges & mitigations for working alongside nature's engineers around our water infrastructure 2/2

Gnawing next to the River Stour in Canterbury

Looking at a repair to an embankment by River Stour IDB and Natural England following beaver access damage.

Beaver dam penning water about 50cm

Paw marks in the mud on a beaver dam

Fantastic couple of days in East Kent with environment officers of #internaldrainageboards from across England and the Canal & Rivers Trust learning about beavers ecology and interaction with lowland & embarked water management infrastructure. 1/2

Our concluding speaker at #ADAConf24 was Michael Sly MBE chair of North Level Internal Drainage Board who gave inspiration for gripping the climatic challenge facing our lowlands and ensuring we don't simply study the challenges we face but get on with delivering with regional and local solutions.

Very valid points and the Chair of the National Flood Forum, David Goff raised a similar message with us today in questions

Defra announces reforms to flood funding and investment to protect farming communities - Association of Drainage Authorities Today, Wednesday 13 November 2024, Floods Minister, Emma Hardy, announced at the ADA Flood & Water Conference 2024 that the government is bolstering England’s resilience to flooding through additional...

Full details of the Minister's announcement today www.ada.org.uk/2024/11/defr...

Pleased to welcome Emma Hardy Minister for Water & Flooding at Defra as our opening keynote speaker at the ADA Flood & Water Conference 2024 setting out Government's intention for reform & investment across themes of water & resilience to flooding. Reviewing investment in flood defences #ADAConf24