Pluvial flooding property threat

A 25-year strategic ‘road-map’ for investment in flood management should be established by the Scottish Government, according a parliamentary report published by Holyrood’s Rural Affairs and Environment Committee.

The committee’s top recommendation is that SEPA should be given the role of ‘competent authority’, taking the lead at a national level in flood risk management. The report also calls on the Scottish Government to set out a national ‘road-map’ for investment in flood management over the next 25 years or more, with provision for updating every parliamentary session.

In contrast to ‘fluvial’ flooding (when rivers overtop their banks) and coastal flooding, the number of properties in Scotland at risk from ‘pluvial’ flooding – when heavy rainfall exceeds the rate at which it can drain away – is not known.