Bodenham Flood Protection Group

Although the Group can often provide informal advice about the risk of flooding to particular parts of the Parish based on their own experience and local knowledge, residents should never rely solely on this and the best sources of information are the maps provided by the Environment Agency. These will provide you with indications of the risk from:

River (fluvial) flooding from the River Lugg here.

Surface water flooding by run-off from high ground here.

General Guidance on Flooding and Flood Protection

There is a great deal of information available on flooding – how to prepare for it, where to report it, what to do during it, what to do afterwards. Rather than attempt to replicate all that here, we suggest that you start by looking at the Government’s advice which you can find here. The key is BE PREPARED. Do not put off taking flood precautions until there actually is a flood – it is then too late!

Other Flood Protective Measures

Sandbags are no real substitute for proper flood protective measures and an excellent source of advice on these is Mrs Mary Dhonau, who has helped the BFPG throughout its existence. She has suffered flooding herself, has many years of experience in advising government bodies on flood-related matters, regularly appears in television and radio interviews, and has her own consultancy at http://www.marydhonau.co.uk/contact/. She has produced a guide, which gives information on alternative methods of property flood resilience and which you can find here. She has also written an ebook which is full of case studies detailing what moves people have taken to reduce the impact a flood can have on their homes and businesses. You can find it here. Both are well worth reading.

Riparian Responsibilities

The owner of land or property through which a river, stream or watercourse passes is known as a riparian owner and has certain legal responsibilities. In addition, where a watercourse forms a boundary with a property it is likely that the adjacent landowner has riparian responsibilities up to the centre line of the watercourse (unless compelling evidence, such as property deeds, suggests otherwise).

Given that in Herefordshire, as elsewhere, riparian owners have a really important part to play in preventing flooding, all residents, businesses and landowners are encouraged to read the information leaflet on ditch and drainage responsibilities at https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/ditches-and-drainage-guidance so that they can ensure they are aware of their riparian responsibilities.

Flood Warnings

The Environment Agency’s Flood Warning Information Service website provides a flood warnings map which shows all the warnings and alerts in force at any one time. You can use this to look for warnings both locally in Herefordshire and across the whole of England and Wales. To see the map click here. (You will need to zoom in to find Leominster where, if there is a current flood alert or warning, you will see the relevant triangular sign marked "River Lugg south of Leominster". Clicking on that will give you the alert or warning itself).

You can also sign up to receive free flood warnings by phone, e-mail or text message by going to the Government website or by calling the 24-hour Floodline number 0345-988 1188.

In addition, you can check the local situation in Herefordshire in a number of ways, for example:

By studying the Met Office weather forecast for the County.

By calling the 24-hour Floodline 0345-988 1188 mentioned above - this provides information on current flood warnings in force.

By checking the water level of the River Lugg upstream from Bodenham at Butts Bridge in Leominster. This gives a good indication of the likelihood of flooding by the river here in Bodenham. You can see updates on the state of the river at the Butts Bridge gauge provided by the Environment Agency and by the Gaugemap website.

By looking up the list of road closures in Herefordshire maintained by Herefordshire Council.

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