If anyone was hoping that climate change would not be a major topic in 2025, that wish did not even survive New Year’s Day. Instead, heavy rains across parts of England, especially in Greater Manchester, brought severe flooding.
As the city region’s mayor Andy Burnham noted, there had not been any major warning, with no named storm being identified, although heavy rain was forecast. He told BBC Radio Manchester: “We were all taken by surprise by some degree. There was no named storm. There was not a particular warning the authorities gave.”
The Environment Agency had issued some flood warnings for the North West, although not for the areas hit hardest, such as in Stockport and south Manchester around the Mersey and its tributaries, the Tame and Goyt, or Harpurhey in the north of Manchester by the River Irk.
Why Things Got So Bad In Manchester
Some of these areas have very substantial flood defences, such as the raised banks along the Mersey in south Manchester, where most of the land near the river is made up of golf courses and football pitches rather than homes, enabling the land to flood if necessary with minimal impact on residential or commercial properties.
On this occasion, however, this was clearly not enough, leaving Mr Burnham and others in positions of authority wondering what can be done. The mayor raised the issue of drainage as a possible concern, which puts the spotlight on water companies and what they can do about such situations.
Drains are a responsibility shared between councils and utility providers, and in this case, Bev Craig, the leader of Manchester City Council, argued that recent “increased investment for drain clearances” meant it was unlikely that blocked drains led to roads and pavements ending up underwater.
In other places, infrastructure was overwhelmed, although it is not commercial water providers who are responsible for things like canal embankments, one of which, on the Bridgewater Canal near Dunham Massey, collapsed as the New Year rain hammered down.
What Can Water Companies Do?
While it is true, therefore, that many of the consequences of severe weather cannot be laid at the door of water companies, the apparently increased likelihood of such extreme weather events happening means that where it does fall within their remit to do something to build in resilience, it is incumbent on them to do so.
For commercial customers, this means there is an opportunity to hold the feet of water bosses to the fire by being ready to switch water supplier if the existing one does not take action to ensure drains and pipes flow freely to restrict overflows after heavy rain.
Golf courses may be a good example. When it is dry and you need water, a commercial supplier can provide what you need to keep the course looking pristine and green. And, of course, the design of the course should mean it has good drainage so that, if it is in a flood-prone area, the water will drain away fairly swiftly once rainfall and river levels normalise.
However, this process will be a lot slower if your provider has not done all that is within its responsibility to maintain water flow and avoid blockages and other exacerbating factors.
The same applies to pollution. Once again, if any outdoor venue is hit by flooding, the water provider can only be blamed if the problem comes from drains or pipes that have not been maintained or aligned as they should be and are themselves the source of pollution. This contrasts with, for example, debris washed up from a river bursting its banks.
Even so, water companies do share a lot of responsibilities with national bodies like the Environment Agency to monitor river water levels, maintain dykes and levees and drainage systems, as well as playing a role in helping with flood relief and recovery.
An Ongoing Climate Challenge
At the same time, the role of water providers cannot just be about handling flood situations. While the New Year has begun with some increasingly familiar sights of roads, cars and even homes underwater, the expectation from climate scientists is not just that wet days will be wetter, but that dry days will be drier.
Indeed, it could be that a few months from now, the New Year floods will be a distant memory as another hot summer brings weeks of drought conditions. Then, the issue will be whether water suppliers have taken all the necessary steps to help protect water supplies, from sufficient storage to the high level of maintenance needed to minimise leaks.
As the climate changes, there is much that is beyond any water company’s ability to manage. But while they can’t change the weather, they can do a lot about the consequences.
