The River Clwyd Chapter 5 Ruthin Floods – The Solution Next Page

The River ClwydChapter 5

Ruthin Floods – The Solution

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The Ruthin Floods. The main flooded areas were Mwrog Street, Borthyn and Mill Street, in the lower parts of Ruthin. (shaded red)

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The Ruthin Floods.

Photographs from Denbighshire County Council, Department of Transport and Infrastructure.

There was some very heavy rain that fell for a long period. This caused the river levels to rise. This caused:

1. the River Clwyd to burst its banks on three separate occasions in two weeks.

2. the Mwrog Stream culvert, which takes the water under the road, became blocked. This meant the water ran down the road into the houses.

The floods happened because:

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Mwrog Stream

Mwrog Stream Culvertapproximately 600metres of underground tunnel

Culvert Entrance

Culvert Exit

News Bites from the BBC

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Sunday 30 October 2000

Storms wreak chaos around Wales

People need to be evacuated from their homes as flood waters reached dangerous levels.

Monday 6 November 2000

Flooding causes havoc in North

Flooding has caused devastation for second time in a week. Ruthin is cut off with several feet

of water in the town centre. Roads are unpassable.

Thursday 30 November 2000

Flood victims seek urgent action

Many local residents are angry at what they see as the council’s generally negative response to the

crisis, which left the properties flooded twice in two weeks.

They are calling for the culvert under the badly hit Mwrog Street to be replaced.

Sunday 20 October 2001

Floods return days after clear up

Heavy rain brought renewed flooding to a north Wales town just days after repairs had finished at some properties

damaged by last year’s flood water.

Residents and businesses in the Borthyn area of Ruthin are once again counting the cost after the rain on Friday night resulted in water gushing out of a culvert and running into

Mwrog Street and Denbigh Road

Monday 22 October 2001

Criticism over flood damage

Denbighshire County Council has been accused by businesses in the town of not acting quickly enough in the past 12 months to avoid repeated flooding.

Plans for a £1.5m flood defence scheme to prevent further flooding hitting Mwrog Street and the Borthyn area this winter are not due to be finished until next summer.

Eifion Hughes, vice-chairman of a local flood action committee, said: "This is the third flood that has taken place in 12 months. People are just so frustrated that it has happened again.”

"People are so angry."

About 20 homes and half a dozen businesses were affected and local people say the recent work on the culvert which runs under the street is too little, too late.

'People are frustrated'

They also say they had no warning of Friday night's flood.

Why were the people so angry and frustrated?

What could be done to stop the floods happening in the future?

What was the flood defence scheme that the council had chosen?

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questions

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What has been done to stop the floods happening in the future?

There were 2 problems:

1. The River Clwyd burst its banks.

2. The Mwrog Stream Culvert blocked and overflowed.

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Raise the banks by building embankments.

New embankment

New wall

Raised bridge

Problem 1 – The river bursting its banks. What could be done?Discuss and then click here

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Problem 2. The blocked Mwrog Stream culvert. What could be done?

Something to help - Even when the culvert wasn’t blocked it was doubtful if it would have been able to take the flow because:

1. it wasn’t big enough2. when the River Clwyd rose it backed up the culvert and reduced the

flow out.

Options:1. Do nothing2. Do minimum3. Flood warning4. Improve existing culvert5. Renew the culvert6. Replace culvert with open channel7. Build a lake to hold the flood water and control the flow out8. Divert the Mwrog Stream upriver of Ruthin9. Divert the Mwrog Stream downriver of Ruthin

Discuss what you think could be done and then click here to find what the options were.

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Option 1: Do Nothing

For:

• None

Against:

• Repeated flooding

• More upset to people and homes

• Main road closed more often

Option 2: Do Minimum

For:

• None

Against:

• Repeated flooding

• More upset to people and homes

• Main road closed more often

• Long term maintenance costs

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Option 3: Flood Warning

For:

• Relatively low cost

• Low maintenance

Against:

• Insufficient reaction time

• Unacceptable to those at risk

• False alarms – leads to no confidence

• Doesn’t stop floods

Option 4: Improving existing culvert

For:

• Little disruption

Against:

• Minimal increase in protection

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Option 5: Renew the culvert

For:

• No extra land needed

• Little ecological effect

Against:

• High cost

• Disturbs people who live in area

• Disrupts the traffic

• Difficult to work while allowing the stream to flow

• Still limits the flow of flood water

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Option 6: Replace culvert with open channel

For:

• No extra land needed

• Little ecological effect

Against:

• High cost

• Disturbs people who live in area

• Disrupts the traffic

• Make road narrower

• Still limits the flow of flood water

• Short lengths of culvert needed to go under roads

• Risk of backflow from River Clwyd

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Option 7: Build a lake to hold the flood water and control the flow out.

For:

• Could be used for recreation

• Little disruption in built up areas

Against:

• Small increase in protection

• May not be able to provide protection during periods of continuous heavy rain

• Uses a lot of land

• Has to be treated as a reservoir with linked responsibilities

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Option 8: Divert the Mwrog stream upriver of Ruthin

For:

• Removes most of the flow from Mwrog Street

• Provides protection to current standards

Against:

• High cost

• Disturb people who live in the area

• Disrupts traffic

• Still needs the use of culverts

• Increased risk of blockages

• Relatively high maintenance

Existing culvert

Stream diversion

Joins River Clwyd

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Option 9: Divert the Mwrog stream downriver of Ruthin

For:

• Removes flows from housing area

• Reduces flow in River Clwyd through Ruthin

• Provides protection to current standards

• Minimal disruption to traffic

• Minimal use of culverts

• Improves existing drainage channels

Against:

• High cost

• Land take

Mwrog Stream Diversion

Existing Mwrog Stream culvert

© Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Denbighshire County Council. 100023408. 2006.© Hawlfraint y Goron. Cedwir pob hawl. Cyngor Sir Ddinbych. 100023408. 2006.

Next Page to see the options the council

chose


Look at all the arguments for the options again and then do what the council had to do - vote on what you think are the best two options.

Back to options

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The two options chosen were:

Option 8: Divert the Mwrog Stream upriver of Ruthin

And

Option 9: Divert the Mwrog Stream downriver of Ruthin


BBC NewsWednesday, 7 November, 2001

Ruthin flood defence plan unveiled

"Consultants acting for the county council have determined that to alleviate the flooding caused by this watercourse it will be necessary to completely divert the stream from its current route in Mwrog Street.

"Two alternative routes have been identified and the county council wishes to have the views of the public.

BBC NewsThursday, 17 January, 2002, 10:19 GMT

Flood relief plans for town

Plans to protect a north east Wales town from costly flooding problems have been passed by Denbighshire County Councillors.

Officers approved the preferred option - expected to cost around £900,000 - which will see water diverted to the north of the town and into the River Clwyd.

Over 90% of local people backed the scheme.An alternative plan would have diverted the culvert beneath Mwrog

Street - but the majority of local people questioned opposed it.

BBC NewsThursday, 6 June, 2002

Flood relief plans on target

A scheme to protect Ruthin’s residents who have been flooded out of their homes on numerous occasions is on target to start this summer.

A council spokesman said: "A second round of negotiations with landowners is now necessary to finalise details and secure formal agreement to access and acquire land for the scheme.

"Subject to the successful completion of this process it remains our intention to commence scheme construction in late summer."

Diverting the stream to the north of the town would take the stream away from the centre of Ruthin while reducing the flow in the River Clwyd. However, it could result in the loss of farming land and increase the risk of flooding to agricultural areas.

BBC NewsWednesday, 4 September, 2002Flood relief plan gets go-ahead

A scheme to protect residents in Ruthin who have been flooded out of their homes on numerous occasions has been approved.

June Jones, who has lived in Mwrog Street for 14 years, and has been flooded out of her home four times welcomed the council's decision.

"It'll mean that we haven't got to jump out of bed all winter wondering if we've been flooded.

The town was badly affected by the floods"I couldn't see that they would turn it down, the only problem is it'll take five months to complete."

BBC NewsMonday, 21 October, 2002

Fears rise over flood action 'delay'

A north Wales politician has warned of "an explosion of anger" in a Denbighshire town prone to flooding.

However, fears have been raised that the project could be delayed and Clwyd West AM Alun Pugh said people are becoming annoyed.

The local authority needs to put up part of the drainage system on local landowners property but talks have apparently taken longer than anticipated.

BBC NewsFriday, 24 January, 2003

New defences for flood-hit town

Long-awaited flood alleviation work in a north Wales town is due to move a step closer.

Denbighshire Council is expected to announce on Friday it has appointed a contractor to carry out the work in Ruthin and that it has set a date to start.

The £1m defence scheme has hit delays, angering local

residents and politicians. Work was held up after a dispute with landowners.

News Bites from the BBCBBC NewsSaturday, 18 October, 2003

Town protected against floods

A flood defence scheme which has cost twice as much as planned comes into operation on Saturday. Ruthin in Denbighshire, north Wales, was one of the worst-affected towns in Wales during the disastrous autumn floods of 2000. But the area's local authority is now confident it can prevent such devastating problems happening again - thanks to almost £3m-worth of flood prevention work. Among the most severely-hit parts were Mwrog Street and the Borthyn area of the town. Since 1998, there have been several incidents of flooding resulting from problems with a culvert, which runs from Mwrog Street to the River Clwyd. Residents had to be evacuated three years ago when a culvert beneath the ground was unable to cope with continuous flood water. Denbighshire County Council has since developed a scheme to divert excess water from the River Clwyd away from the town centre. A brook which runs under the street and along farmland to Denbigh Road will be re-directed to join the River Clwyd. Contractual problems with the owners of the farmland which will now carry diverted river water have meant the cost of the scheme has doubled this year from £1.6m to just under £3m. The council pressed ahead with the work, having made a pledge to people living in the town. Many families had seen their homes flooded four times in four years The authority is confident future floods can be averted but many locals will only be convinced once the new system has been tested by the weather.

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Click here for slide showof diverted stream

Too much water in the stream and it flows down the diversion. The Mwrog stream can also be shut off.

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The town of Ruthin is now safe from flooding but there are two things to consider:

1. The length of time from the floods to the building of the stream diversion.

2. The three groups of people involved and what their point of view and feelings were before, during and after the diversion was built.

Reading the newspaper reports again and taking note of the dates will help

with these considerations.

What do you think?

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The River Clwyd Chapter 5 Ruthin Floods – The Solution Next Page