Keighley and Ilkley’s MP Robbie Moore has addressed the Institution of Civil Engineers’ 2nd Yorkshire and Humber Flooding and Water Quality Conference as it’s keynote speaker, also taking part in a Q&A on the issue.
There were speeches from key stakeholders across the region at the conference, including talks from representatives of Yorkshire Water on flood risks in the region, the Environment Agency on water quality monitoring at the river Wharfe, and Leeds City Council on steps being taken to mitigate the risk of flooding in the city.
In his address, Mr Moore argued that a new, “whole system” approach was needed to properly combat flooding and water quality challenges in the long term, with proper consideration “from cloud to coast”.
Speaking about the conference, Robbie Moore MP said:
“There has been some massive successes in recent years, including the Government’s Environment Act and the introduction of unlimited fines on water polluters - but we must continue to go further - and that means addressing the complex and siloed responsibilities which various stakeholders hold and installing resilience into a whole system approach.
Managing flooding and water quality involves a number of organisations who often have differing responsibilities and objectives. These include, for example, the Environment Agency (responsible for surface water flooding), the water company (responsible for flooding of the sewerage system), the Highways Authority (responsible for highway flooding), and landowners, farmers and Local Authorities all have their own responsibilities. All of these stakeholders have different objectives and it is only with one strategy that flooding and improving water quality will be addressed.
Therefore, it is my view that the UK urgently needs some form of over-arching organisation, committee or similar, providing advice and guidance on flooding and water quality by overseeing the ideal management of the complete river basin system, from cloud to coast.
The conference was incredibly important as it brought together key organisations who were able to openly discuss this incredibly important issue. A huge thanks to Roger Falconer and all at ICE for hosting such a fantastic event.”
