Clover Misra
Competition winner 2024
Mitigating flooding in urban catchments: when walls don’t work
"Flooding in the UK causes substantial socio-economic damages annually, prompting planners to necessitate adaptive strategies to mitigate urban flooding effectively, especially amidst climate change. Hydraulic modelling and geospatial analysis have emerged as critical tools for understanding, predicting, and mitigating flood risks. Using a combination of 1D and 2D modelling software, I have modelled flooding arising from the convergence of three rivers in a catchment in West Yorkshire. The interplay of hydrological dynamics and climatic variability within a heavily urbanized channel presented unique challenges, which could not be mitigated by traditional floodplain management without increasing flood risk downstream. Using geospatial analysis, I identified overland flow pathways and interactions across the catchment. This informed the development of a combination of interventions, including: formal linear defences; upstream flood storage areas; flap valves at flood hotspots; and modifications to hydraulic controls such as bridges, ultimately protecting up to 2000 homes and the wider community."