1 Why flooding happens

The idea of flooding is usually thought of as problematic, yet the natural processes involved and the possibilities for managing water are diverse. Historically, flooding has been beneficial in some ways and costly in others, so that reducing the incidence of flooding and managing its impacts were and still remain important societal goals. However, approaches designed to keep water out of urban or residential areas have become problematic as the changing population and landscape make this goal less attainable and the need to reconnect with pre-urban water management and flooding has been recognised by policy makers. This section looks at the problem of flooding to understand what it is, how flood risk management has been approached historically and how things have been changing in UK flood risk management since the year 2000.