Talking floods in the Makerfield by-election: why we need holistic water management

In the build-up to one of the most anticipated by-elections in modern political memory, Labour candidate Andy Burnham has placed flooding across Makerfield at the heart of his campaign. Given the devastating impacts that flood waters have undoubtedly wreaked on people’s homes and livelihoods in Makerfield and beyond, this political emphasis is to be expected. But this narrow focus does showcase our short-term and disjointed mindset towards water-related crises given that media and political attention has separately flagged drought and sewage pollution across the region in recent years.

A four-pronged approach

Our water security hangs on three fundamental questions: Is there too much? Is there too little? Is it too dirty? Yet these very simple questions are intrinsically interlinked. When floodwaters overwhelm our landscapes, less water is typically stored in the reservoirs, soils, and aquifers that sustain us during dry periods. In turn, these hydrological extremes degrade water quality - floods create pollution “cocktails” by enhancing sewage releases and washing contaminants from surrounding landscapes; while low water levels under drought mean pollutants become less diluted, thus becoming more potent. Clearly, we cannot meaningfully address one aspect of our water security without considering the others. And yet, time and time again, policy responses and management solutions treat them as entirely separate problems.

“Hard engineering” flood defence strategies like barriers are of course necessary to protect vulnerable people and places, as are other interventions like water pumping in drought and ‘aerating’ oxygen into polluted systems. But these emergency measures and risks can be reduced through holistic and cohesive approaches, and are needed to address our interconnected water security challenges. Researchers at the University of Birmingham advocate a ‘four-pronged’ approach to managing our freshwater environments:

• Sustainable water resource management - namely how we store and withdraw water from surface waters like reservoirs and groundwater
• Sewer network design and maintenance - managing often ageing treatment works and sewers that were never built to cope with the water volumes we now face
• Physically transforming freshwater environments – including wetland creation, 'rewiggling' straightened channels, and enhancing habitat complexity to naturally retain water
• Implementing green solutions across our landscapes - from large-scale tree planting to localised urban rain gardens and bioswales

The first two represent human-engineered interventions, while the latter two fall under the banner of 'nature-based solutions' and 'Natural Flood Management' - approaches that, when implemented well, can simultaneously offset flood risk, drought vulnerability, and pollution. Each of these approaches can generate significant benefits for biodiversity and local communities alike.

The lesson from Platt Bridge

Take the major flooding in Platt Bridge in 2015 and again in 2025. Parts of the town were severely inundated following heavy rainfall, with rapid surface runoff worsened by inadequate sewer networks and flood defences. This in spite of ponds and wetlands soaking up water just upstream in areas like Low Hall Nature Reserve, the effects of which having been enhanced by restoration works delivered by local volunteer groups. The fact that these natural sponges could not, in isolation, protect downstream vulnerable communities reinforces the notion that while nature-based solutions are invaluable to both people and nature, their potential can only be fully realised when embedded in catchment-wide strategies and alongside other management ‘prongs’.

A political moment, and a call to action

The focus on flooding in the Makerfield by-election is, therefore, more than a political campaign pledge. It is a reminder - and an opportunity - that we need to fundamentally rethink how we manage water in this country. With climate change making storms more extreme, droughts more severe, and pollution events more potent, this reframing of management solution is needed now more than ever.