The Environment Agency publish permits that they issue under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).
This decision includes the permit and decision document for:
The Environment Agency publish permits that they issue under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).
This decision includes the permit and decision document for:
The British Embassy Manila is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for funding as part of the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund and Darwin Initiative run by the UK’s Department of Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Department for International Development (DFID).
The Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund helps developing countries to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, by addressing demand reduction, strengthening enforcement and criminal justice, and providing alternative livelihoods.
The IWT Challenge Fund is already supporting 47 projects around the world, with a value of £14m. In its 4th Round, the priority areas we are looking to fund include:
The deadline for the first phase of the bidding process is 12 September.
The Darwin Initiative is a UK government grants scheme that helps to protect biodiversity and the natural environment in developing countries. The initiative funds projects that help countries rich in biodiversity but poor in financial resources to meet their objectives under one or more of the following biodiversity conventions:
The Darwin Initiative has funded 1,055 projects from 159 countries, with a value of £140m, since 1992.
In its Round 24, the priority areas we are looking to fund include:
Projects expected to address key threats to biodiversity, such as:
In addition, applications that focus on:
The deadline for the first phase of the bidding process is 21 September.
Further information, including the guidance for applicants, the application forms and the timetable, can be foundin the links below:
Applicants are encouraged to make early contact with the British Embassy Manila by sending their proposal via email. Please email Ms. Joy Anne Icayan JoyAnne.Icayan@fco.gov.uk prior to deadline of submission.
This project has researched the preferred drawdown capacity for reservoirs in the UK and provides guidance on consistent methods for assessing the adequacy of existing drawdown facilities.
The guidance is intended for reservoir inspecting engineers who are required under UK reservoir legislation to review the drawdown capacity of reservoirs. Reservoir owners may also find the guidance useful.
Environment Agency engineers from across England will descend on two Somerset pumping stations next week (14 to 18 August) for Exercise Ash.
Huish Episcopi Pumping Station and Westover Pumping Station, near Langport, will see pump specialists and incident operatives sharpen their major incident skills in preparation for any serious flood.
High volume pumps – which can fill two average sized bathtubs every second – will be deployed at the stations, increasing water pumping capacity.
Westover Pumping Station removes water through three permanent, electric, submersible pumps at a combined rate of 1,800 litres per second. Huish Episcopi Pumping Station also has three permanent pumps and removes water at combined rate of 5,610 litres per second.
Organiser John Rowlands said:
Somerset has experienced a number of flooding incidents in recent years, most notably in 2013/14 when communities were impacted by flood water. That winter was the wettest for 250 years in parts of the country with only one completely dry day in nearly two months in Somerset.
This unprecedented event led the Environment Agency to consider what else we could do to reduce the impact of a similar flood in the future.
In the summer of 2014, we developed a series of trigger points. When certain criteria is met – more than 100mm of rainfall forecast in 5 days, water levels on the moors rise more than 50mm per hour and a geographical feature (normally a road) is inundated – additional pumping capacity will be deployed at certain locations.
These trigger points were rolled out at a series of community meetings over the autumn and winter of 2014 and Exercise Ash will test this commitment next week.
Severe flooding can also have a detrimental impact on the ecology and agriculture and depending on the time of the flood can take years for the landscape to recover.
As part of the Somerset Levels and Moors 20 Year Flood Action Plan, regular testing of our resilience via training exercises on an annual basis will provide reassurance for communities at flood risk.
The pumps will be loaded onto a lorry at an Environment Agency depot in Bawdrip village a few miles north of the pumping stations on Monday, 14 August. They will reach the pumping stations the same day. It will then take a whole day to unload and deploy them before they are switched on. Different exercise teams will practice attaching the pipes over the course of a week.
John Rowlands said:
Deploying and attaching these pumps takes a significant amount of planning and because these pumps can be used anywhere in the country. We’ve invited engineers from across the Environment Agency to come and put their incident skills into practice.
This, alongside the work of our partners, will make a huge difference in reducing the frequency, duration and severity of flooding in the future.
Partner organisations have been invited to attend Exercise Ash as observers, including Avon and Somerset Local Resilience Forum, Somerset County Council, Internal Drainage Board and the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service.
It is important that everybody is aware of their own flood risk. People can find out how to get ready and check their flood risk at https://www.gov.uk/prepare-for-flooding or by calling Floodline on 0345 988 1188.
There are 21 permanent pumping sites in Somerset. Pumping stations are set to operate automatically according to water levels in the rhynes draining the moor or flood alleviation schemes. These pumps cannot operate if the receiving river is full, when spillways are operating or river banks are overflowing. This is why trigger points are in place, which alert the Environment Agency to start deploying mobile pumps. Triggers include specific roads starting to flood, the forecast of heavy rain, and moor water levels rising above 50mm/hour.
Huish Episcopi Pumping Station and Westover Pumping Station were built in the 1960 as part of a suite of works around Langport. Another two pumping stations were built at the same time – Long Load Pumping Station and Midelney Pumping Station. They are all located next to rivers – Huish Episcopi and Long Load on the River Yeo, Midelney on the River Isle and Westover on the River Parrett. They pump water from the adjacent moors (38 million cubic metres of water when the moors are full) which form part of the entire 160,000 acre Somerset Levels and Moors.
The 20 Year Flood Action Plan was jointly created by a broad range of local and national organisations and communities, and is overseen by the Somerset Rivers Authority.