What work does NRW do in my district?

Our role in drainage districts

Natural Resources Wales's primary role with regard to drainage districts is to manage water levels and reduce flood risk through the management and maintenance of drainage channels, ordinary watercourses, pumping stations and control structures.

Work undertaken in drainage districts helps to sustain and protect the following activities:

Agriculture and the environment
Recreation and education
People and communities
Industrial and commercial Assets
Utilities and transport

Improvements through maintenance

Routine maintenance activities typically take place annually, subject to economic justification. Our programme is agreed following consultation with our own fisheries, recreation, biodiversity and conservation teams and with the Drainage District Advisory Groups. This ensures that the natural environment is maintained and, where possible, improved as a result of our maintenance work.

Managing watercourses

All funds raised within a drainage district are spent on maintaining and managing our watercourses and associated structures. We focus our efforts on activities that help us to manage land drainage, water levels and flood risk. Our maintenance activities are carried out in line with Welsh Government policy and where there are economic and environmental justifications for intervention.

Examples of our work

The work activities we undertake include:

Controlling aquatic weeds in drainage channels
Removing silt and gravel from drainage channels
Maintaining pumping stations and water control structures
Clearing grills and removing obstructions from drainage channels

Find out what work is planned in your area

Our maintenance programmes for each district include a range of routine activities which are carried out throughout the year.

While every effort is made to ensure that our maintenance programme is kept up to date, the exact timing of specific maintenance activity may be affected by adverse weather and flood incidents, as well as by available resources and environmental incidents. This may prevent the work from being completed as planned.

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