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Catchment Flood Management Plans frequently asked questions

Find answers to frequently asked questions about Catchment Flood Management Plans.

What is a Catchment Flood Management Plan (CFMP)?

A Catchment Flood Management Plan (CFMP) is a strategic planning tool through which we will seek to work with other key decision-makers within a river catchment to identify and agree policies for sustainable flood risk management.

What is a river catchment?

A river catchment is an area of land where the rivers drain into the sea.

What are CFMP summary reports?

Our final CFMP reports are available on request from Environment Agency offices.  However these final reports are long technical documents. Therefore we intend to publish summaries of these reports that highlight the main issues contained in the full CFMP.

Why are you producing CFMPs?

A CFMP is a tool we can use to explain how catchments work, where flood risk is greatest and how best to manage risk in the long-term.  We can discuss this with communities and our professional partners so that we can all work together to deliver a more sustainable future.

What is the purpose of CFMPs?

The main aims of our CFMPs are to:

  • understand the factors that contribute to flood risk within a catchment both now and in the future;
  • through discussion with communities and professional partners, recommend the best ways of managing the risk of flooding within the catchment over the next 50 to 100 years.
  • provide a tool to communicate the issues to allow a discussion about the future management of flood risk.

How many CFMPs summaries are being published?

We are producing 77 CFMPs in total across England and Wales.  We are publishing summaries of 59 of the English CFMPs and nine from Environment Agency Wales.  We are not publishing nine English CFMPs yet because we have decided to re-consult on eight of these plans, and we are not ready to publish the ninth because we have not yet sought approval from the relevant Regional Flood Defence Committee.