Slowing the Flow at Pickering — Natural Flood Management in the North York Moors (UK)

Pickering, North Yorkshire, flooded four times between 1999 and 2007, the 2007 event causing about £7m of damage. Instead of a hard defence alone, Forest Research led a partnership with the Environment Agency, North York Moors National Park Authority, Durham University and Natural England, with Defra as lead funder, to slow flows in the upstream catchment.
Measures include low-level bunds, large woody debris dams, riparian and floodplain woodland, blocked moorland and forest drains and farm-scale interventions. Pickering was one of three Defra pilots sharing £1 million.
Reported outcome: the scheme is estimated to have cut the chance of flooding in any year from about 25% to under 4% (FloodList, ePLANETe case study). This is a modelled estimate, and Forest Research notes that success depends on the measures actually implemented and validated by ongoing river-flow monitoring.
Caution: results come from a single catchment; benefits for very large storms are less certain than for frequent events.

Read the full analysis: https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/research/slowing-the-flow-at-pickering/slowing-the-flow-at-pickering-about-the-project