Portable pumps to reduce flood risk in Catcliffe 
A new multi-agency partnership project between the Environment Agency, Rotherham Council and Yorkshire Water is set to reduce flood risk to homes in Catcliffe that saw serious flooding in November 2000 and during the major South Yorkshire floods of June 2007.
In times of flood, a major pumping operation will swing action to reduce the flood risk to over 150 properties in Catcliffe. Six portable 150mm diameter pumps powered by a generator will help reduce floodwater in two tributaries that flow through culverts under Sheffield Lane and Poplar Way and empty into the River Rother.
Currently when water levels rise dramatically in the River Rother, the water in these two culverts can back up and a number of properties in Catcliffe are at risk of flooding. The six pumps will take water from the culverts and surrounding area during flooding events and pump it over the flood defences directly into the River Rother.
The cost of the £200,000 scheme will be split equally between the Environment Agency and Rotherham Council, and should be completed during the summer of 2008.
Environment Agency area flood risk manager, Peter Holmes, said: “Once the scheme has been completed the pumps can be quickly deployed by Rotherham Council following a warning from the Environment Agency. The pumps are a key component of our multi-agency approach to reducing the flood risk in Catcliffe.
“Regular communication between the Environment Agency, Rotherham Council, Yorkshire Water and the local Catcliffe Flood Action Group has been very important in ensuring this scheme will work effectively and accurately during flooding events.”
In June 2007, the River Rother was so inundated with water that the culvert in Poplar Way was unable to discharge into the main river. The culvert was backed up with water, which flowed out of manholes along Poplar Way and flooded the surrounding area. The manhole covers along a private surface water sewer in Poplar Way have now been sealed by Sheffield City Council.
Graham Kaye, Section Engineer for Rotherham Borough Council, said: “The Council along with its partners, the Parish Council and the Flood Action Group are working towards reducing the risk of flooding in the Catcliffe area. It’s proposed that an Action Plan will be agreed with all relevant partners to provide advance flood warning messages and enable the Council and its partners to provide and operate pumps and generators on site, which will reduce the risk of flooding in these vulnerable areas.”
The Catcliffe flood improvement scheme, also involves Yorkshire Water providing backup generators for their pumping station at Main Street, opposite the Plough Hotel, and at California Drive, which were both affected by power cuts in June 2007.
Yorkshire Water’s catchment manager, Ian Davies, said: "We're pleased with progress made to date. There's still some work to do on the detail but we're confident the commitment to a multi-agency approach is a significant step in the right direction. It's important that we keep up the momentum and that each and every partner continues to play an active part in the hunt for long-term solutions."
Once the works are complete all three partners in the scheme will run an exercise with the Catcliffe and Treeton Flood Action Group to test the deployment and setup of the pumps and generator so staff and residents know how everything will work.
After the June 2007 floods several public meetings and drop-in centres were held in Catcliffe. They were attended by representatives from Rotherham Council, the Environment Agency, the emergency services and Yorkshire Water. It was established from the meetings that further drainage investigation works and various schemes were required to reduce the risk of future flooding in the village.
Rotherham Borough Council is also involved with other schemes and various works in Catcliffe. They include repairing a damaged land drain and building a flood defence bank around the local recreation ground on behalf of Catcliffe Parish Council. This will provide more flood storage should the area flood again. A damaged highway drainage system in Sheffield Lane has also been repaired.
As part of the proposed Waverley Development, the Council has also worked very closely with the developer and the Environment Agency on the diversion of Handsworth Beck. The flows within Handsworth Beck now discharge into three reservoirs within the Waverley development, controlling the rate of water discharging into the River Rother upstream of Catcliffe.
Rotherham Council has just published a summary report on the council website for residents in Catcliffe affected by the June 2007 floods.
Related categories: Climate change and global warming
