Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs)

Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs) are a crucial entity within England and Wales. 121 local public authorities are tasked with the responsibility of managing water levels over an area that equates to: 1.2 million hectares of land in England alone, and a further 28,500 hectares in Wales. Figures that make them responsible for nearly 10% of the total land area.

The main remit of an IDB is to ultimately reduce flooding in areas of England and Wales which have special drainage needs. How IDBs go about this is continually evolving as requirements change. More of a focus is being put on IDBs to move towards finding sustainable solutions, which will remain cost effective and efficient, whilst taking into account a wider catchment based approach to long term water level management.

In addition to established frameworks and larger flood related projects, recent restructuring and reviews of the Environment Agency and FCERM strategies have seen the implementation of a number of Public Sector Cooperation Agreements (PSCAs) that ultimately require and allow IDBs to commission works that are for the benefits of their communities. Something that was traditionally completed by the regional Environment Agency teams.

With limited direct resources, the requirement for interaction between IDBs has increased significantly, and there is now a  necessity to move towards specialist sub-contractors; who are not only able to offer traditional techniques for management of linear channels, but also offer innovative, and sustainable solutions for wider catchment specific projects.

What can Ebsford do?

Ebsford already have an established presence on a number of water level management frameworks. Our current contracts see us take direct responsibility for the vegetation, and sediment management of 80,000m of linear channels, so we are aware of the core responsibilities relating to time scales, cropping patterns, and landowner engagement.

As a total solution contractor however, we are able to expand on our service offering, by delivering and assisting with a number of direct schemes, either under the management of the IDB board or through the PSCA agreements.

Our current portfolio includes many projects, ranging from the removal of structures (bridges etc.), the creation of berms, sediment management, erosion control, bioengineering, and wider catchment vegetation management.

Working hand in hand with management groups, we are able to provide early contractor interaction (ECI) services on a number of these schemes, and our active research and development department is constantly looking at new techniques, and technologies, to assist in the cost effective, and environmental management of water courses under the IDB remit.