Reclaim the Rain
Reclaim the Rain is a joint Norfolk and Suffolk County Council innovation project funded by Defra and the Environment Agency as part of the Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme (FCRIP).
Reclaim the Rain is working with six small rural communities across Norfolk and Suffolk to deliver sustainable water management projects which provide resilience to the impacts of both surface water flooding and drought.
We see flooding and drought as two sides of the same coin; with climate change making both more frequent and more severe, it’s vital to mitigate both together, using a holistic approach to manage water more sustainably.
The Value in Water
Flood water is often treated as a hazard to be quickly drained away or diverted, and we’re committed to reducing the risk of flooding in our communities, but we’re also committed to recognising that flood water can also be a valuable resource.
Reclaim the Rain is exploring innovative ways to recover and reuse it, to the benefit of water users across our communities. This is especially important for rural communities, which often struggle to secure funding for flood resilience via the traditional funding mechanisms. Through demonstrating the environmental, economic, and social value of water, we hope to make a case for a new funding approach which will recognise water as an asset and form part of funding allocations moving forward.
With the UK forecast to experience wetter winters and drier summers in the future, we hope Reclaim the Rain can help to identify areas of opportunity for water reuse and inform policy which better provides water resilience to the impacts of both flooding and drought.
From Strength to Strength. Collaboration drives us.
One of the key strengths of Reclaim the Rain is our commitment to co-creation.
We work closely with local communities, recognising that the most effective solutions are those that are created in collaboration. Local knowledge has been essential in identifying where and how flooding problems really occur and where opportunities for water reuse exist within each of the surface water catchment areas.
Bringing together a diverse range of ideas and perspectives takes time and trust, but, without local input, our proposals would not be what they are today. Every idea has been developed in co-creation with the communities, and we believe that the success of Reclaim the Rain will be largely attributed to the meaningful engagement of those who participated in these discussions.
A Plethora of Solutions
Across our case study communities, we have a range of exciting initiatives underway. In Boxford, Thompson, and Woodton, the importance of environment and reuse of water to enhance the natural environment has been favoured, with solutions including the restoration of pingos, refurbishing ponds, installing leaky dam networks, and community reuse assets to support local clubs and infrastructure.
In Little Blakenham, Friston and Watton, flood capture for agricultural reuse and irrigation is significant. To match these priorities, proposals in these catchments include the interception of field run-off to support winter-time storage reserves for reuse in summertime.
Across both counties, we’ve implemented community resilience measures such as SuDS Pods, tree pits and rain gardens, as well as engaging in the Department for Education’s SuDS in Schools Programme with six school provisions. All measures, even on a smaller scale, have potential to make a real difference in local communities and have served as powerful engagement tools for us.