What is floodplain restoration?

Floodplain restoration connects rivers to their natural surrounding area, giving rivers more roome to accommodate larger floods.

Why would you encourage flooding outside of the river?

Small, regular floods that inundate riverside floodplains are essential to a river’s health and provide a wide variety of benefits to wildlife, fish, and people. Restoring floodplains to give rivers more room to accommodate large floods is the best way to keep communities safe. Floodplains are an integral part of healthy rivers and floods are a natural occurrence on rivers. Small floods are very important to the health of a river and the land around it. They nurture life in and around rivers. The fish, wildlife, and plants that live in or along a river, or floodplain, often need floods to survive and reproduce.

During big floods, healthy floodplains benefit communities by slowing and spreading dangerous flood waters that would otherwise flood riverside communities, harming people and property. Healthy floodplains are nature’s flood protection.

Giving rivers room to move is our best protection against floods and is a great way to help keep rivers healthy.