£240,000 to protect Peak
£240,000 to protect Peak
20 March 2009
published by www.thestar.co.uk
United Kingdom — A project to protect picturesque part of the Peak District from flooding has received a £240,000 boost.
The Defra grant will help the Environment Agency continue work to protect the Upper Derwent Valley.
The Environment Agency will build on the already successful work by the Moors for the Future partnership to replant and restore peat bogs on the heavily eroded moorland in the Peak District National Park.
The project will focus on three sites in the Upper Derwent catchment which is the source for regular flood events in the Lower Derwent.
Work will reduce the flood peak downstream by delaying run-off and also help preserve the carbon stored in the peat deposits and improve the quality of water coming off the moors.
Environment Agency area environment manager Mark Haslam said: “The Peak District moors are at risk from the smallest changes. If they are damaged by wildfires, air pollution or inappropriate land management it results in bare peat, loss of stored carbon and uncontrolled surface water run off.
“We want to manage the very real risks of climate change and flooding by increasing the buffering capacity of the Peak District moors to hold back storm water and reduce flood peaks at the same time as providing a better environment for people and wildlife.”
Environment Minister Huw Irranca-Davies said: “As climate change takes hold we are already seeing flood risk around the country changing, so it’s important that we do all we can to protect ourselves and our communities.”
