Current status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 1 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether a working version of all hydrological and hydraulic models used to formulate flood maps in support of flood protection schemes should be made freely available to the public.
SEPA’s National Flood Risk Assessment (NFRA) underpins the Flood Risk Management Planning process in Scotland. It identifies potentially vulnerable areas (PVAs) where a multiagency approach is likely to be required to address flood risk. This ensures the process is nationally consistent.
The NFRA uses SEPA’s national flood hazard maps which include rivers, the sea and surface water. This flood map data provides quality assured nationally valuable resource in support of strategic flood risk decisions.
SEPA’s maps can be viewed freely from its website and in addition, the full suite of data is shared with partners and other organisations to support their flood risk management and public bodies’ duties.
Once a strategic risk has been identified through the Flood Risk Management Planning process, more detailed work including hydraulic modelling can be undertaken to understand and confirm the risk and potential actions to mitigate it. Local authorities are responsible for developing this detailed modelling for flood protection schemes.