Worthenbury Meadows pumping stations review

Overview

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) manages three land drainage pumping stations in the Worthenbury Meadows area, near Wrexham in North East Wales.

• Wern-y-Davy pumping station
• Dolennion pumping station
• Gwern-y-To pumping station

We operate these pumping stations to improve the quality and reliability of agricultural land for landowners by artificially draining excess water built up in drainage ditches and allowing water to reach natural watercourses quicker.

The pumps are unable to stop flooding but they are helping to remove the flood water from the land quicker than would be the case naturally.

Pumping Stations Review

In 2016, we completed the first part of the Pumping Stations Review project that consisted of high-level assessments of 19 pumping stations in North Wales.

This phase reviewed the performance and benefit of each pumping station in terms of managing flood risk for people and residential properties, then developed long-term management options for each station.

Further assessments were undertaken to make sure the evidence base was robust for these pumping stations. 

Our initial options on the future of Wern-Y-Davy, Dolennion and Gwern-y-To pumping stations are:

1. Decommission the pumping station/s – preceded by a period of mothballing during winter months to ensure there is no unforeseen adverse impacts to, for instance, any paths used by the public.
2. Handover the operation of the pumping station/s to landowner/s.

Why did we conduct the pumping stations review?

In line with Welsh Government priorities, we are taking a more sustainable approach to flood risk management and exploring opportunities to enable our landscape to adapt to climate change.

Read more about the review on our project page.

We want to hear from you

As the study develops we are eager to work with you - as a local landowner as well as the wider community, to find the best solution.

We would like to understand your views and would be grateful if you could complete our online questionnaire. The responses will be collated in June 2022 in order for NRW to make an informed decision on the future of the pumping stations.