A new project aimed at better understanding groundwater flooding will investigate Bourne and the surrounding communities in south Lincolnshire.
It’s part of Project Groundwater, one of 25 schemes awarded funding by Defra as part of the £200m Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme, announced in 2020.
Groundwater is the least understood flooding mechanism across greater Lincolnshire, and the project will create a better understanding of groundwater and how it can be managed, both in terms of flood risk and as a resource.
Bourne will now be included in the list of initial trial communities, alongside Barton-upon-Humber and Barrow-upon-Humber, Grimsby, and Scopwick. Investigations will take place in these areas over the next four years, and the results of this project will help inform future thinking to how organisations across the county, and more widely, approach challenges around groundwater.
There are between 37 and 74 ‘wild’ boreholes in the area between Bourne and surrounding communities. These are boreholes discharging continuously and uncontrollably, thus causing not only groundwater flooding issues, but also a significant loss of groundwater from a water-stressed area.
Matthew Harrison, flood and water manager at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “By including Bourne in the project, we will be able to gain a greater understanding of the existing problem, and identify new measures that could be used in this area and other areas to help address groundwater and flooding issues.”
