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This is the time of year when we need to think about the state of Hampshire’s land drainage network. As the season for more rainy days approaches and leaves begin to fall, all riparian owners (those who have watercourses on or bordering their land) across Hampshire, should be checking  the state of drainage ditches, pipes, culverts that carry watercourses to ensure there is unobstructed conveyance of surface (rain) water to reduce the risk of localised flooding.  

Please find attached a leaflet/poster detailing what responsibilities riparian owners have and guidance on how to undertake this maintenance to reduce flooding from surface water. Please also review our updated web pages on flood prevention where there is a video about riparian responsibility and clearer advice on riparian responsibilities and ditch maintenance: 
https://www.hants.gov.uk/landplanningandenvironment/environment/flooding/floodprevention 

You can report flooding via the link ‘Report flooding’ on our website or emailing us at fwm@hants.gov.uk

To reduce the risk of future flooding we would also appreciate being informed of any planned, ongoing or recent works to install a culvert, pipe or infill/realign a ditch (i.e. an ordinary watercourse) so that we can check that a land drainage consent is in place for those works. Please see ‘Making changes to a watercourse’ for further details.

If you have any further enquiries regarding this or any other areas of flood risk management, please visit our website for further information: https://www.hants.gov.uk/landplanningandenvironment/environment/flooding