SPONGE2020: addressing the urban flood risk in Taunton

Introduction

SPONGE2020 is an Interreg 2 Seas project, funded by the European Regional Development Fund, addressing water-related effects of climate change in urban areas of Somerset.

The Somerset Pilot for SPONGE 2020 is led by Westcountry Rivers Trust and Somerset County Council, and is implementing targeted interventions, which are co-created with local communities, to prevent surface water flooding and improve the urban landscape.

The Local Action Project was funded by Defra and the Urban Demonstrators project was funded by the Environment Agency. These complementary projects were led by Westcountry Rivers Trust who have extensive experience of evaluating ecosystem services and working in partnership with a variety of stakeholders.

Managing the rainwater that falls on our towns and cities is an important task. As we start to feel the effects of climate change, extreme rainfall events are expected to increase. This is creating real challenges for water managers and local authorities. SPONGE 2020, an Interreg 2 Seas project, part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, is working with local stakeholders to co-create innovative adaptation measures across a range of settings to reduce the impact of climate change and make communities more resilient.

Paved surfaces cause water to rush into our sewers and rivers. This increases flood risk, causes sewers to be overwhelmed and together this takes pollution into our precious rivers and streams. The traditional ways of managing our rainwater have advantages and disadvantages, but typically cause problems when there is heavy rain.

We need new and better ways of managing rainfall. Fortunately, nature shows us an alternative!

Click the icon below to download the SPONGE2020 report. There is also a direct link to Westcountry Rivers Trust.