THE co-organisers of this week’s Wales Annual Flooding Conference have told delegates that the recent floods in Monmouth, Abergavenny and elsewhere highlight “an urgent need for continued investment in flood defences and our public infrastructure”.

ICE Wales Cymru (The Institution of Civil Engineers) made the appeal at the 22nd conference held in Cardiff.

Civil engineering delegates from across Wales also heard how the Welsh Government has committed £370m towards flood risk management.

“The climate emergency is taking place right now,” said Huw Irranca-Davis, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs.

Frameworks to tackle flooding must involve community-led adaptations and nature-based solutions, he said.

Natural flood management is also a growing opportunity such as restoring wetlands and leaky dams.

ICE Wales Cymru Director, Keith Jones, said: “We are deeply concerned by the recent floods in Monmouth and across South Wales. The human impact of the floods cannot be understated, with the loss of homes and livelihoods.

“Current estimates show that over 272,000 properties in Wales are at risk of flooding from rivers, sea, and surface water.

“We welcome the Welsh Government’s commitment today to build defences and nature-based solutions and look forward to working in partnership on all aspects of civil and infrastructure engineering.”

ICE Wales Cymru Chair, Tara Sirati, added: “Today’s Annual Flood Conference highlights effective strategies including nature-based solutions to mitigate the increasingly perilous effects of climate change.

“We invite the Welsh Government, local authorities, and local communities to work with us to provide innovative and nature-based solutions.

“We urge lead Local Flood Authorities to develop strategies to improve property level resilience in flood risk areas and identify and protect exceedance flood pathways to operate in extreme events.

“This will build on the good progress made in Wales on the implementation of Sustainable Drainage schemes (SUDs).”