Flash flood concern at Meadow Mill

Following the devastating early-morning flash flood last Monday that affected the Meadow Mill area, near to the Verdant Works, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage, I have been in touch with the City Council and Scottish Water about the flooding issues in the area.

This is a significant problem – at its worst last Monday, water reached two feet in depth and its force ripped up parts of the roadway.

There have been calls for a storm drain to be provided to help protect properties from future occurrences and I have asked Scottish Water and the City Council to clarify what can be done to help avoid such flooding in the future.   


The City Engineer has responded to me as follows :

"Scottish Water and my Engineers are working together to understand better the failure mechanisms associated with this specific area. The way in which flash floods of this type affects the area varies depending on the intensity and duration of the storm and also site specific factors such as the capacity and condition of the public and private drainage systems, local blockages at road gulleys, surface obstructions and the topography of the area.

Unfortunately, the nature of these flash floods, combined with unfavourable circumstances such as those noted above can impact on the site in different ways and this means the most effective flood protection measures and response can be difficult to determine or predict. An example of this includes the storm on 6 July which was similar in nature to the one experienced on 11 July. An inspection on 6 July revealed no flooding in the area. I appreciate this may be the exception here as our site visits have also shown flooding during similar events.

In order to determine the most cost effective and sustainable method of reducing flood risk it is essential that the root cause of the flooding is established as this will inform the design process and ensure investment by any party is cost beneficial. Alternatives may include additional site storage and controlled discharge, improved maintenance or repairs to existing systems, appropriate protection, adaptation or consideration of measures in the upper catchment. Once the root cause is established alternatives such as those noted can be explored in more detail.

For your information I can confirm that my Engineers will extend the investigation of the public system to Brook Street by attending a Scottish Water inspection. The manholes were observed surcharging by my Engineers on Monday 11 July at 7:20am and following our reporting of this to Scottish Water the inspection will now take place. The purpose of this will be to determine whether there are any obstructions within the system adjacent to the surcharging manholes. As noted previously this will feed in to our ongoing discussions with Scottish Water as we try to resolve matters in this area.

I will update you of the outcome of our investigations in due course." 


I am pleased to see proactivity by the City Council as it is important that the flooding issues in this area are addressed.