3 The role of floodplain meadows

Floodplain meadows are species-rich grasslands in a floodplain. They receive sediment from the river during a flood and can absorb nutrients attached that sediment to produce a healthy crop of hay the following year. They therefore actually benefit from flooding to provide sustainable food, whereas more intensively managed crops are often destroyed by a flood. They are able to mitigate the effects of a flood, because they allow flood surges to spread across the floodplain dispersing the flood peak. Their deep, permeable soils allow flood water to infiltrate and be stored. These mechanisms reduce the volume of water in the channel and lower the peak discharge.

Meadows can withstand inundation with flood water at any time of year and they, unlike more intensive crops, can recover quickly. Their network of shallow drainage channels allows surface water to return to the channel once the flood peak has passed, making space available to absorb the next flood.