Case study: River Jubilee

Question 1

What is the river Jubilee?

Answer 1

The Jubilee River is 11.7km long and 50m wide. It is a flood relief channel protecting Eton, Windsor and Maidenhead. It diverts water from the River Thames in times of high discharge. It is the UKs largest artificial channel.

Question 2

River Jubilee benefits

Answer 2

• The high-value properties in these areas are protected and so insurance claims have reduced. 3000 homes are protected.
• The Royal settlement of Windsor and Eton are
  protected with £110 million funding from the
  Environment Agency
• The area is popular with paddle boaters and
  new habitats were created, it was designed to
  look like a natural river with a nature reserve
  and shallow reed bed

Question 3

River jubilee costs

Answer 3

• further downstream in Wraysbury the newly created confluence has increased the chances of flooding and in 2014 it had its worst flood since 1947
• the EA ran short of funds meaning the other 3 flood relief channels have been put on hold.
• some weirs are unnavigable and algae has built up behind them, disrupting the natural
  ecosystem. One weir cost £680,000 in maintenance after just one year.

Question 4

River Jubilee evaluation

Answer 4

• Possibly the most significant cost (and an economic one), is the fact that the EA ran out of funds to engineer the 3 other planned flood relief channels
• meaning that all future plans rely on funding by the local councils
• the maintenance cost of Slough weir was £680,000 just one year after construction.
• This leads me to conclude that the benefits do not outweigh the cost.
• Maintaining the channel is a huge economic burden.

Question 5

River Jubilee sustainability

Answer 5

• In terms of long term sustainability, we need to consider the holistic nature of river systems and the problems of building on the floodplain.
• Flood risk assessments are vital for all future developments on the floodplain