Watercourses who is responsible?
The 1991 Land drainage act states that: A watercourse (or riparian) owner has a duty to accept naturally occurring flows of water and allow them to pass uninterrupted.
It is very important that ditches, pipes and culverts are kept clear in order to reduce the risk of flooding. The responsibility of this falls to the riparian owner (the owner of the land through which a watercourse open or piped passes). Guildford Borough Council is the land drainage authority for the area. This means that the council has legal powers to ensure that landowners fulfill their responsibility as riparian owners by keeping watercourses on their land clear. If riparian owners do not fulfil their obligations the council has the authority to serve legal notice or to undertake the works and recharge the riparian owner for the cost of the works.
To help prevent flooding, Guildford Borough Council undertakes annual clearance works on 23km of strategic ditches where it is in the interest of the wider public (although this does no remove the responsibility from the riparian owner). Some of the streams are on land owned by the council and so we are the riparian owner. In addition to this we maintain 9km of pipes and culverts.
Recent Flooding
In August 2006 and July 2007 intense summer storms caused flooding to properties within Guildford Borough. The worst affected areas were Ash, Ash Vale and Pirbright where, on 13th August 2006 between 80 - 100mm of rain fell over a six hour period.
The council offers a voluntary service to provide sandbags to residential properties during emergencies. Please see our Emergency Sandbag Page for further details.
In response to the flooding the council has undertaken investigations into the worst affected areas. This has lead to flood prevention works being carried out in many of the worst hit areas. This is a continual process and there are a number of sites where future proposed works are being developed.
As there is only a limited amount of funding each site is prioritised in the following way:
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Internal flooding to more than one property in an area
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Internal flooding to a single dwelling
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Flooding to outbuildings/garages
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Flooding to gardens
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Flooding to fields/farmland
For advice on what to do in the event of a flood please visit our Emergency Flooding page.
Below are some examples of land drainage and flood alleviation works that have been undertaken by the council.
Construction of a flood wall, Shawfield Road, Ash, October 2007
Works were undertaken to complete a flood wall behind properties on Shawfield Road in Ash. This will reduce the risk of flooding to these houses from the stream to the rear of the gardens.
De-silting works Hodge Brook, November 2007
Works were undertaken to de-silt a section of the Hodge Brook near Pirbright. This has greatly improved the capacity of the stream which will reduce the risk of flooding down stream.
View a report providing information on land drainage in Pirbright [PDF] (37k).
Please use the contact details at the bottom of this page for further information and advice.
For rivers and general advice on flooding contact the Environment Agency
For flooding from the highway or blocked road gullies contact Surrey County Council who are the highway authority
For foul or surface water sewers contact Thames Water
Engineering Services
Guildford Borough Council
Millmead House
Millmead
Guildford
GU2 4BB
Tel: 01483 444520
Fax: 01483 444511
Email: EnvironmentalPolicyDesignServices@guildford.gov.uk