Harnessing nature based solutions to protect Hull from flooding while enhancing the natural environment

Derringham Aqua Greens Concept Design and Implementation

Derringham in Hull was one of the worst hit areas during the 2007 floods, which damaged 9,000 properties in the city and affected 1,300 businesses. To better protect the local community against flooding during heavy rainfall, the Living with Water partnership created the Derringham Aqua Greens Project. They engaged our team to help.

We produced the concept design for the project, which adapted existing green spaces to create a sustainable drainage system for exceedance management. Using hydraulic modelling, we identified the optimum locations for water storage and created six aqua greens. These would temporarily hold more than 6,500 cubic metres (229,545 cubic feet) of surface water and prevent the sewer network being overwhelmed.

Our team also redesigned alleyways—locally known as tenfoots—between properties to channel water away from roads, homes and businesses towards the aqua greens to store the water before it slowly drains into the sewer. The system works using gravity, so no mechanical or electrical elements are needed. This low‑carbon, nature-based design can store over two-and-a-half Olympic-sized swimming pools of stormwater in a residential area, which wouldn’t have been possible using traditional underground tanks because of the limited space.

Community engagement was a key part of the project. Yorkshire Water hosted more than 35 public consultations to explain how the aqua greens work and gather local feedback, and our team supported the delivery of several of these sessions.

The completed aqua greens have already shown their value during recent storms and have provided flood protection to hundreds of properties, which otherwise would be at very high risk. As a practical, sustainable alternative to traditional drainage, Living with Water’s aqua greens provide a blueprint for similar projects in other flood-risk communities.

Living with Water is a partnership between Yorkshire Water, Hull City Council, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, the Environment Agency, and the University of Hull. The partnership was set up to address flood risk collaboratively in Hull and the East Riding, recognising that not one organisation could do it alone.