Located on the coast at the lower reaches of the Alt-Crossens and Lower Mersey river catchments, the area covering our Partnership spans 249 square miles (645 km²) bordering Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south and south-west, and the Irish Sea to the west.
A mix of high-density urban areas, suburbs, semi-rural and rural locations makes for a varied use of land, but overwhelmingly Merseyside is urban. Liverpool Urban Area is the fifth most populous conurbation in England with its urban core focused around Liverpool City Centre.
In our Business Plan we have identified several key flood and coastal risks in Merseyside:
- Increasing flood and coastal erosion risks as a result of climate change
- Predominant surface water flood risk
- Ageing drainage infrastructure
- Rising groundwater levels
- Management of our coastline into the future
You can find more information about these risks in our Partnership Business Plan.
Table 1 puts the number of people at risk of flooding in the context of the size of the Local Authority’s population. As a result of its urban nature, Merseyside has a high surface water flood risk relative to other areas in the North West, whilst the flood risk from rivers and the sea is comparatively low.
Table 1: Flood Risks in Merseyside
|
|
|
Properties at Surface Water Flood Risk |
Properties at River and Sea Flood Risk |
| Local Authority Area |
Total Properties |
Total Properties at Flood Risk |
Low 0.1% chance |
Medium 1% chance |
High 3.33% chance |
Low 0.1% chance |
Medium 1% chance |
High 3.33% chance |
| Knowsley |
67,120 |
8,096 |
5,915 |
1,196 |
306 |
96 |
453 |
130 |
| Liverpool* |
223,004 |
28,856 |
22,805 |
3,556 |
846 |
1,364 |
65 |
220 |
| Sefton* |
129,669 |
81,321 |
43,860 |
21,790 |
12,465 |
3,076 |
89 |
41 |
| Wirral |
152,064 |
18,619 |
13,550 |
2,898 |
987 |
853 |
322 |
9 |
| Merseyside Total |
573,782 |
136,892 |
86,130 |
29,440 |
14,604 |
5,389 |
929 |
400 |
Data Sources:
- Surface Water: North West Surface Water Property Count Dataset based on National Receptor Database 2011 [July 2019]
- Rivers and Sea: North West Flood Risk Management Plan [2015]
Note:
- ‘Properties’ includes both residential and non-residential property.
- * Liverpool City Council and Sefton Council have benefited from additional local modelling of surface water flood risk, with support from United Utilities and the Environment Agency. Outputs from that work are not shown in Table 2.
Further information on flood and coastal erosion risks in your local area can be found:
- On the Environment Agency’s website here.
- On your Council’s website (below) within their:
- Local Flood Risk Management Strategy
- Strategic Flood Risk Assessment
- Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment
- Published Section 19 Flood Investigation Reports
Knowsley Council – Flood Risk Management
Liverpool City Council – Local flood risk management and drainage
Sefton Council – Drainage, Coastal Erosion and Flood Prevention
Wirral Council – Flooding
For more information on coastal flood risk management across the north west, visit our North West Coastline page here.
