Ordnance Survey data is underpinning a UK Environment Agency mapping tool for helping to reduce flood risk.

Ordnance Survey location data is providing the backbone for a powerful UK Environment Agency tool that helps identify who could benefit from flood risk reduction and environmental improvement projects.

The Environment Agency’s (EA) Stakeholder and Beneficiary Mapping Tool (SBMT) brings trusted data together in one platform. The tool is available to all EA staff, and all organisations which are signed up to the UK’s Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA).

The SBMT enables users to see who could benefit from flood projects, where partners can support delivery, and who owns land that may be affected. This replaces time-consuming manual searches and supports more joined-up planning and decision-making.

In its first year, the SBMT saved more than 400 hours and delivered nearly £130,000 in financial benefits by reducing manual analysis, cutting reporting costs and helping teams reach decisions faster.

More than 300 EA and other Risk Management Authority staff now use the platform to support project planning, partnership funding discussions and more joined-up environmental delivery.

At the heart of the SBMT is Ordnance Survey (OS) data, provided under the PSGA, which gives users a trusted and authoritative view of places, properties, land, boundaries and assets. Currently, OS National Geographic Database data such as OS Buildings and Water Networks are being used, alongside boundary line and topographic products.

By combining OS data with flood and erosion risk, land ownership, environmental, socio-demographic and EA programme datasets, the SBMT enables users to quickly understand project locations, identify who may be affected or benefit, understand land ownership and spot opportunities to work with additional partners.

The tool has already paid dividends for users:

• The EA’s National Partnership Funding Team used the SBMT to complete a risk analysis for supermarket giant Tesco to help it better understand flood risk for its top 200 priority stores. The task was completed in minutes, saving approximately 40 hours of analyst time.
• Area Flood Risk Specialists assessed four projects, saving 16 hours and avoiding an estimated £28,000 in consultant costs while identifying an additional 250 non-residential properties that could benefit from flood protection.
• Asset teams have also used SBMT to identify and contact landowners responsible for defective assets in the water network, replacing manual searches and creating an estimated annual saving of 140 hours across 14 Environment Agency asset teams.

“When organisations can see a complete and trusted picture of the places they serve, they can make better decisions and deliver greater impact,” said Tina Kennedy, Ordnance Survey’s Chief Customer Officer.

“By providing the authoritative location data that underpins the SBMT, Ordnance Survey is helping the Environment Agency and its partners identify opportunities faster, target investment more effectively, and work together to better protect communities from flooding while delivering wider environmental benefits.”