Will the Minister provide a list of all the flood embankments Natural Resources Wales maintain despite there not being a maintenance agreement in place with the landowners?
NRW currently maintains 684 embankments which have an active routine maintenance action. This might include activity such as grass cutting or Invasive Non-Native Species control as example.
Historically, NRW rarely entered into agreements with landowners to maintain flood embankments unless there has been a specific need or necessity to do so. Instead, NRW typically exercises its statutory flood risk management powers in accordance with the Water Resources Act 1991 and the Land Drainage Act 1991. These powers include a power of entry for NRW, upon serving notice, to enter land to carry out flood risk management or land drainage works it considers necessary without the need for prior landowner approval. Such notices of entry set out the nature of NRW’s powers and the landowner’s rights, for example, to compensation if they suffer damage.
Wherever possible, NRW works with respective landowners before it undertakes maintenance works. However, this is not always possible, for example in cases of emergency or where the landowner is not known or available. In general, most work proceeds without the need for a formal agreement and is, instead, carried out under NRW’s statutory powers of entry. In some instances, when the need is warranted, NRW will enter into formal maintenance agreement with landowners.
Please contact NRW for more specific detailed data by location.