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Land Drainage Responsibilities

 
Land Drainage is a complex area of responsibility, but in short a landowner is responsible for the drainage of their land and, in so doing, to not cause problems for their neighbours. A person owning lower-level land has to accept natural land drainage water (that is, spring water, ground water or surface water run-off) from adjacent land at a higher level, but they also have the right to prevent such water causing damage to their own land. 'Natural' runoff does not include water from gutter downpipes, nor cases where an entire back garden has been paved over.
 
In the case of ditches, streams and rivers it is the landowners each side of the watercourse (known as "riparian owners") who are responsible in law for the maintenance of the watercourse itself and the flow within it. More information about riparian ownership, including the rights and responsibilities of riparian owners, is available on our Riparian Ownership page.
 
Thumbnail of Main rivers in Borough
 

Certain important streams and watercourses are known as Main Rivers and in these instances the Environment Agency have powers to maintain water flow and to carry out flood defence works. The term 'Main River' needs not reflect the actual size of the river - some are quite small, and not all have water in them all the time - but the overall effect of that watercourse on the drainage system of surrounding areas. The landowner is still responsible for the physical maintenance of the 'main river'.

 

The route and extent of these Main Rivers within the Borough can be accurately determined from plans held by the Environment Agency but are approximately shown on this plan (follow link from thumbnail image). The full list can be found in our Flood and Coast Defence Policy.

 
All watercourses of any description fall to the landowner to maintain, which in some instances may be the Borough Council but more often will be private landowners.
 
The Borough Council budgets to meet its own responsibilities on its own land, but has no money available to carry out works on privately-owned land.
 
Hampshire County Council is the 'Lead Local Flood Authority' and has a duty to investigate incidences of flooding arising from the failure of land drainage infrastructure. This does not mean that they have a duty to rectify the situation, merely to identify the mechanism by which the flooding occurs and who might be responsible for carrying out remedial action. Any works by landowners to ditches, streams, watercourses etc. need the express consent of Hampshire County Council before the works can proceed.
 
The Borough Council can serve notice and carry out works if ditches have become blocked resulting in a flood risk or health hazard. This is particularly so on Hayling where obstruction of ditch flows can lead to mosquito infestation. These powers are contained in the Land Drainage Acts 1991 and 1994, and Sections 259-265 of the Public Health Act 1936, but are not instantaneous - the process between first notification of a problem and serving a notice can take some months, and further stages are required if the landowner defaults on the notice. The costs involved in carrying out any such works, plus the administration costs associated with serving notice, are reclaimed from the landowners.