Flooding of Land in Mid Wales

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:01 pm on 10 January 2023.

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Photo of Russell George Russell George Conservative 2:01, 10 January 2023

Thank you, First Minister, for your answer. You will know that I've regularly raised issues with you and other Ministers in regard to the flooding of land across mid Wales. You may recall the issue of flooding of homes in Llandinam I raised with you last February, and indeed other areas. Of course, there is great anxiety and worry, as you will know, for people whose homes have been flooded, but they worry that their homes may be flooded as well. We're currently in a position in mid Wales where rivers are overflowing. Further flooding of low-lying land is expected today as a result of levels in the River Vyrnwy and the River Severn. Currently, there are a number of Met Office warnings in place.

A key lever in terms of preventing and reducing flooding risk is the better management of the Clywedog and Vyrnwy reservoirs. I wonder if you can provide an update, First Minister, in regard to the works that I know you and NRW are involved with, especially in regard to the possibility of enhancing the Clywedog dam to provide greater resilience. It's also been my view, for many years, that the operating rules of both dams need to be explored and looked at to allow for greater capacity of storage in the winter months. I know the counterbalance to that is that those dams need to be kept high in times of drought, but I'm absolutely of the view that those rules are out of date and need to be examined and explored. I wonder if you could update me, First Minister, on the Welsh Government's involvement and discussions in regard to the operating rules of both dams.

And finally, compensation for landowners when landowners' land is flooded, sometimes in a planned way, in order to allow for flooding of homes upstream not to occur. Those particular landowners will be considerably disadvantaged. I wonder what considerations the Welsh Government has given in terms of supporting those particular landowners.