What Will We Do About Coastal Flooding?
Decision Making Exercise
Imagine you have been appointed as a specialist advisor from the Wales Coastal Monitoring Centre – W.C.M.C.
You will be asked to write a brief report outlining the issues on a section or sections of the coastline in Wales.
You will need to:
- Give a background summary of issues identified as a result of the storms of Winter 2013/14.
- Explain the options for your section or sections of coastline:
- No Active Intervention (N.A.I.)
- Hold the Line (H.T.L.)
- Managed Realignment (M.R.)
- Advance the Line (A.T.L.)
- Describe (use maps to help you to do this) the current preferred option for your chosen location or locations in the S.M.P.’s for:
- Epoch 1 (short-term) = years 0 to 20
- Epoch 2 (medium term) = years 20 to 50 and
- Epoch 3 (long term) = years 50 to 100
- Your Decision:
- Either justify why you think this is the best option or
- Provide an alternative plan and justify why you have changed it.
Shoreline Management Plans
Severn Estuary Coastal Group
Map showing the area covered by the Severn Estuaries Coastal Group
South Wales S.M.P.
West Wales S.M.P.
North Wales S.M.P.
Defra (2006). Shoreline Management Plan Guidance. March 2006.
Proposals for the management of the Coastlines in Wales.
Epoch 1
0-20 years
(2025)
Epoch 2
20-50 years
(2050)
Epoch 3
50-100 years
(2105)
The Severn Estuary
In terms of length the Severn Estuary S.M.P. covers a relatively short section of our coastline. However in terms of population it covers major cities such as Cardiff & Newport; major infrastructure such as the railway and motorway routes from West & South Wales to England and a large area of industry and other economic activities. In terms of the economic resources of Wales this section of coastline is the most important.
Map of River Wye
Map of Newport
Map of Penarth
Download Flyer PDF
The three maps give an indication of how the shoreline would look between 50 and 100 years from now based on the policies being proposed and the likely strategic implications of tidal flood risk.
The maps show which stretches of the shoreline would be actively managed (by either Hold the Line, Advance the Line or Managed Realignment) and which ones would not (No Active Intervention).
The flood plains are shaded grey with a blue outline to show the inland limit).
Areas shown as undefended flood plain (in pale blue) indicate likely areas of inundation or ‘ponding’ that will be affected as a result of a NAI policy option.
Hotspots on the coastal outline map divided into the following sections:
Download Glamorgan Coastline PDF
Download Swansea Bay PDF
Download Carmarthen Bay PDF
Download Pembrokeshire Coastline PDF
Download South Wales Summary Leaflet PDF
Detailed Table
Management of Sand Dunes will result in Managed Retreat (MR)
West Wales (and most of North Wales)
From St. Ann’s Head to the Great Orme in Conwy
A) West Pembrokeshire
B) Cardigan
C) Central Ceredigion
D) North Cardigan Bay
E) West Llŷn
F) Menai and Conwy
G) North Anglesey
The West Wales S.M.P. does not use the same map based approach so it is useful to refer back to the N.R.W. maps used earlier.
Epoch 1
Epoch 2
Epoch 3
North Wales
The North Wales S.M.P. area is linked to the entirety of the North-West of England; as a consequence it is at a different stage of development than the locations entirely in Wales or even the Severn Estuary area.
As such the best current information is from the N.R.W. maps used previously:
Epoch 1
Epoch 2
Epoch 3
Student Activity
Try to write a list with 10 reasons why you think coastal flooding might be getting worse.
Extension Activity
Try to explain why each of your 10 reasons might make coastal flooding worse.
Decision Making Exercise
Imagine you have been appointed as a specialist advisor from the Wales Coastal Monitoring Centre – W.C.M.C.
You will be asked to write a brief report outlining the issues on a section or sections of the coastline in Wales.
You will need to:
- Give a background summary of issues identified as a result of the storms of Winter 2013/14.
- Explain the options for your section or sections of coastline:
- No Active Intervention (N.A.I.)
- Hold the Line (H.T.L.)
- Managed Realignment (M.R.)
- Advance the Line (A.T.L.)
- Describe (use maps to help you to do this) the current preferred option for your chosen location or locations in the S.M.P.’s for:
- Epoch 1 (short-term) = years 0 to 20
- Epoch 2 (medium term) = years 20 to 50 and
- Epoch 3 (long term) = years 50 to 100
- Your Decision:
- Either justify why you think this is the best option or
- Provide an alternative plan and justify why you have changed it.
