Sewer flooding risk grows as climate changes, warns Yorkshire Water

Yorkshire Water has warned of an increased risk of street flooding in the region as heavy rainfall caused by climate change overwhelms sewer systems.

In its climate change adaptation report, the firm pointed to data from the Met Office which shows the amount of heavy rainfall events have increased significantly over the last 50 years, because the warmer atmosphere is able to hold more moisture.

Heavy rainfall events are likely to happen five times more often in the future as global warming continues to change the climate, the report said.

Although the more modern sections of the company’s network are designed to accommodate a 1-in-30-year storm event without flooding, as the climate changes a 1-in-30-year storm could become more frequent, occurring about 1 in every 18 years by the 2030s.

Yorkshire Water lead climate change advisor Amanda Crossfield said: “The report highlights current and future flood risks in the region and what we are doing as a company to reduce these risks.

“For instance, we are installing flood defences where appropriate but also enhancing our emergency response capacity, and increasing the flexibility of our water distribution grid so we can re-route supplies when required.

“This means we are taking the most cost-effective approach to managing the flood risk to our assets and to the services we provide customers.”

She said the firm is working to resolve street flooding, which also poses a problem when sewers reach full capacity and start to overflow.
Yorkshire Water has invested £80 million over the last five years to help remove 385 properties from the regulated sewer flood risk register.

The company is also working with local authorities across the region to remove surface water from its network to help reduce the risk of flooding.