What is a floodplain?

A floodplain is the part of a valley floor over which a river spreads during seasonal or
short term floods. They play a part in natural systems, namely as ‘safety valves’ that
help dissipate flood waters.

Flood plains are made by a meander eroding sideways as it travels downstream. When
a river breaks its banks and floods, it leaves behind layers of rock and mud. These
gradually build up to create the floor of the flood plain. Floodplains generally contain
unconsolidated sediments, often extending below the bed of the stream. These are
accumulations of sand, gravel, loam, silt, and/or clay, and are often important
aquifers, the water drawn from them being pre-filtered compared to the water in the
stream.

A floodplain can contain 100 or even 1000 times as many species as a river. Wetting
of the floodplain soil releases an immediate surge of nutrients: those left over from the
last flood, and those that result from the rapid decomposition of organic matter that
has accumulated since then. Microscopic organisms thrive and larger species enter a
rapid breeding cycle. Opportunistic feeders (particularly birds) move in to take
advantage. The production of nutrients peaks and falls away quickly; however the
surge of new growth endures for some time. This makes floodplains particularly
valuable for agriculture.

Rachel McKevitt
A flood plain during a 1 in 10 year flood on the Isle of Wight

Floodplains offer level and fairly cheap sites; they have relatively little agricultural
value, and because they have often been ignored by early urban growth, they can
provide sites close to urban cores.

It is therefore tempting to build and live on floodplains; over five million people are
now living or working in flood-risk areas in England and Wales. Planning
applications for developments on floodplain in Britain have been going up every year
for the last five years.
Clearly, floodplains present quite a serious risk to people and property, yet at the same
time,, the government, faced with a need to build more and affordable houses, is
saying that inevitably much of the new housing will have to be built on such land.

A gravel floodplain in Alaska

Rachel McKevitt