The Council will reduce flood risk by:

1. Helping those at risk of flooding protect themselves
2. Developing long-term solutions to protect those most at risk, and
3. Working with partners to avoid risk from flooding as well as providing assistance both during flooding and with the recovery process.

Please Note if you are visiting this page to gain up-to-date information on current flood warnings you need to follow the link to SEPA website below Flood Warnings in force across Scotland Use this link to find out about Flood Warnings

The primary legislation relevant to flooding is the recently published Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009. This Act replaces the Flood Prevention (Scotland) Act 1961 as amended by the Flood Prevention and Land Drainage (Scotland) Act 1997. It places a duty on the Scottish Government, SEPA, Scottish Water and local authorities to better co-ordinate the assessment and management of flood risk. Whereas current policy focuses on river and coastal flooding, the Act covers all sources of flooding, including overloaded sewers. For a brief summary of the duties the Act places upon all Local Authorities including Dumfries and Galloway Council - Local Authority Duties.

---

Being Prepared for Flooding

It is important to remember that the first responsibility for protecting property lies with the property owner. The Council has no responsibility to provide sandbags or flood defences and property owners are urged to take steps to protect their own property from flooding. See below for details of the Council's Subsidised Flood Products Scheme.

It is crucial that those in areas considered to be at risk of flooding take sensible precautionary measures to reduce the risk of flooding. A first approach to determine whether you are at a risk of flooding is by viewing SEPA's Indicative River and Coastal Flood Maps (Scotland).

Being Prepared for flooding is important. The following links provide helpful information:

• Dumfries and Galloway Fire & Rescue -  Flooding Information [810kb]
• SEPA website to obtain advice -SEPA - Being Prepared
• Scottish Flood Forum - Flooding Factsheets

Flooding - Useful Information

• Biennial Flooding Reports
  In accordance with the previous legislation the Council was required to report on watercourses every two years, detailing the activities undertaken in respect of the Council's duties and powers under the previous Flood Prevention and Land Drainage (Scotland) Act 1997. While the Act has been superseded the reports from previous years are still available.
  Find out more...
• Flood Alert Scheme
  Within Dumfries and Galloway there are currently only two flood warning systems in place. These are both operated by SEPA through their Floodline Warnings Direct service.
  Find out more...
• Flood Pod
  In a joint working approach our Council's Planning and Environment Services (PES) Department and the Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) have procured a Flood Pod.
  Find out more...
• Flood Product Subsidy Scheme
  Dumfries and Galloway Council in conjunction with the Scottish Flood Forum has undertaken a review of products available to help those at risk of flooding and these form part of our Pilot Flood Resilience Product Subsidy Scheme.
  Find out more...
• Flood Protection Works / Schemes
  The Council is currently carrying out work on two major flood protection schemes and also has a small budget, funded through revenue, to carry out minor improvement works to reduce flood risk.
  Find out more...
• Flood Risk Management Historical Flooding Records
  To improve the understanding of flooding mechanisms it is useful to have good historical data of flood events.
  Find out more...
• Flooding Development Management
  As part of the Council's duties as Planning Authority it is necessary to consider any proposed development in terms of flood risk. This covers two main aspects:
  Find out more...
• Local Authority Duties
  Under the new Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009 the Council's duties can be summarised as follows:
  Find out more...
• Moffat Flood Study
  In 2006 Dumfries and Galloway Council commissioned a flood study for Moffat.
  Find out more...
• Reducing Flood Risk
  Disposal of material within a watercourse can greatly increase the risk of flooding. You can help in two ways:
  Find out more...
• Sandbag Policy
  Dumfries and Galloway Council's policy with regard to the deployment of sandbags is to prevent or contain floodwaters from rivers (fluvial), surface water (pluvial) or groundwater. The primary responsibility for protection of private property in the event of a flood lies with individual owners and not the Council or any other Agency.
  Find out more...
• Stranraer Waterfront Coastal Flood Risk Assessment
  In order to inform the future re-development of the Stranraer Waterfront, the Council commissioned a Coastal Flood Risk Assessment.
  Find out more...
• Strategic Flood Risk Appraisal
  In 2007 JBA produced a Strategic Flood Risk Appraisal for Dumfries and Galloway Council. The Appraisal, collated and assessed existing information on flood risk, flood management infrastructure and flood occurrence and delivered a prioritised list of areas that could benefit from flood management and/or further study.
  Find out more...