GeoSmart launches ground-breaking 5 metre Groundwater Flood Risk Map

With groundwater flood damage currently costing the UK economy £210 million a year, GeoSmart Information, a leading provider of desktop reports, data and services for property, has addressed the issue head-on by launching a new 5 metre Groundwater Flood Risk Map, offering users more accurate data than ever before.

The GeoSmart GW5 Groundwater Flood Risk Map is the most sophisticated and accurate map currently available on the market. It uses, for the first time, a five metre dataset to provide detailed groundwater flood risk information on individual properties.

The new data is part of a very active development programme, established by GeoSmart’s sister company ESI Ltd in 2013 with the original 50m resolution map, which has been used to screen more than 400,000 UK property transactions in the UK in the last year alone.

Combining comprehensive data on geology, permeability and historic groundwater levels, it is a major improvement on other maps, which are based on older data and indicate potential susceptibility to groundwater emergence rather than specific risk. It also includes flooding from permeable superficial deposits which can have major implications in downstream river valleys and coastal areas.

The new dataset also incorporates the new 5m digital terrain model (DTM) to deliver enhanced resolution at the property scale, with the latest “state of the art” LIDAR data released by the Environment Agency in September. It reveals the complex relationship between terrain and “ponding” of groundwater in specific locations.
By offering a better granularity of risk boundaries, topography and integration with other 5m surface and fluvial flooding datasets, the map provides far more “real world” clarity than ever before. It will deliver address level insight which will have significant implications in terms of insurance premium calculations, land and property resilience planning and conveyancing due diligence.

Stuart Pearce, Managing Director of GeoSmart, explained:
“Groundwater flooding is the hidden face of flood risk, and with climate change continuing to impact weather patterns, the result is a greater need for more comprehensive information about ground conditions, groundwater and flood risk.” 

 

“Our pioneering new Groundwater Flood Risk Map reflects GeoSmart’s ongoing investment in delivering the best groundwater data available in the market with unequalled accuracy.  With more location specific data, users will have far greater confidence in knowing individual conditions than ever before.  This means a far more informed choice, with major benefits for the property, infrastructure and insurance industries.” 

 

“Enhancing resilience to extreme weather will be an important aspect of future economic competitiveness, and mapping of groundwater flood risk areas provides important preparation support for emergency response, flood mitigation and land-use planning, as well as the assessment of climate change impact” concluded Stuart.

Find out more about the GeoSmart’s GW5 Groundwater Flood Risk Map, call us on 01743 298 100, or  email info@geosmartinfo.co.uk.