Drain London

Drain London has been working to establish ownership of London’s drainage assets, assess their condition and secure a better understanding of the risk from surface water flooding, so that boroughs and the GLA can manage and improve drainage assets and mitigate the risk from this type of flooding.

The Drain London partnership includes representation from the boroughs, the GLA, London Councils, the Environment Agency and Thames Water Utilities and Transport for London .

One of the first tasks for the project was to divide London into more manageable sub-groups loosely based on their common risk of flooding. The groups have met regularly throughout the project to take the programme forward.

The aim of the Drain London project has been to manage and reduce surface water flood risk in London through:

• using a risk-based approach to identify and prioritise surface water flood risk and flood risk management in London
• creating partnerships of key stakeholders to ‘own’ both the flood risk and the delivery and maintenance of the risk management measures
• building the capacity within London to manage flood risk – across different physical scales (regional, local, neighbourhood, community and individual), sectors (public, private, voluntary, community) and disciplines (spatial planning, emergency planning, development control, public realm management, engineering, highways management, public health, communications and community engagement)
• maximising the potential for multifunctional solutions that provide multiple benefits (e.g. offsetting the urban heat island effect)
• taking account of the changing nature of the risks, due to climate change, population and demographic change, public awareness and acceptance
• delivering change on the ground, not reports and models.