Flooding from rivers
All rivers are the responsibility of landowners, known in legal terms as 'riparian owners'.
Main Rivers
Main rivers are mapped and registered by the Environment Agency. Find out more and view the main river map here.
If you notice a blockage or tree on a main river which is causing a risk of flooding, call the Environment Agency hotline on 0800 80 70 60.
Permits are required from the Environment Agency for structures along main rivers.
There are structures and screens that are managed and cleared on rivers on a regular basis in periods of adverse weather. These could be the responsibility of:
- The Environment Agency
- Local authority
- Other organisations
- Private landowners
Significant structures will be highlighted in our Flood Asset Register.
Ordinary Watercourses
Roadside ditches normally belong to the adjoining landowner and not the highway authority, except where land has been acquired for new road building.
Consent is required from Southwark Council (as the Lead Local Flood Authority) to undertake some works on an ordinary watercourse. If a landowner wishes to pipe, alter a pipe, or dam an ordinary watercourse, they should contact our Flood Risk Management Team to apply for consent.
Southwark Council has a programme for clearance and maintenance of ordinary watercourses on our own land. Where they are piped or culverted, this does not change the responsibility.
Page last updated: 06 June 2023
