• Environment

• About the Environment
• Air Quality
• Composting
• Dog Warden
• Energy Efficiency
• Environmental Health Licensing
• Flooding & Drainage
• • Am I at risk of Flooding? Opens in a new window
  • Current National Flood Warnings Opens in a new window
  • Drains and Sewers
  • FAQs for Flooding and Drainage
  • Flooding Advice Environment Agency
  • Flooding Advice Preparation
  • Floodline Opens in a new window
  • Land Drainage - Riparian RIghts and Responsibilities
  • Prepare for flooding Opens in a new window
  • Surrey Heath Flooding Advice
  • Watercourse - Land Drainage
  • Weather, Flooding and Land Drainage Guidance
• Food Safety
• Grants
• Health and Safety
• Healthy Living
• In and Around your Home
• New Waste Scheme
• Noise and Pollution
• Pest Control
• Recycling
• Street Cleansing
• Useful Links
• Waste Minimisation

Watercourse - Land Drainage

What is a watercourse?

There are many alternative words for a watercourse (ditch, stream, river, brook, channel, canal etc) which, in general terms, means any channel that conveys water.

Who responsible for carrying out works?

Everyone that has a watercourse either within or on the boundary of their land is responsible for the maintenance. Land Drainage for any type of watercourse is under Riparian Law.

Over time, and due to location, some of these watercourses may have been piped (culverted). Although piped systems don't cause immediate problems if well constructed, development increases, improved efficiency of systems and changing climate can lead to these pipes being a restriction as flows exceed their original design.

In order to pipe any watercourse, express permission from the Environment Agency should be sought, with often only essential sections obtaining approval.

What do we do?

Working in close cooperation with the Environment Agency, Surrey Heath Borough Council undertakes a general supervisory role of Land Drainage throughout the Borough. We have close working relationships with Surrey County Council Highways as major land owners within the Borough, also with English Nature and Surrey Wildlife Trust as management authorities for many open spaces.

Due to the low lying nature of the area, the Borough of Surrey Heath has approximately 1,300km (1,300,000m) of Land Drainage systems (watercourses, ditches, streams, rivers)

What's next?

As we all live in the real world, we're all aware that things aren't perfect. The Council doesn't have the manpower or funding to have immediate response to the recent flooding issues. In 2006 and 2007 we have experienced periods of excessive rainfall and the knowledge gained from this requires careful evaluation before solutions can be sought without detrimental effect to other parts of the borough.

We will try to help where we can but the type of support the Council is able to offer will be revised.

Investigation Proposals are to offer subsidised assistance for flood protection equipment to all properties within the Borough.