We’re delighted to welcome Lucy Jefferson into the team in the new role of Culm Catchment Officer. The funding for this post comes from a Devon-wide project being coordinated by Devon County Council called “Managing Big Problems in Small Places”, which aims to increase flood resilience within communities that are vulnerable to rapid flooding but where traditional flood defences are shown not to be appropriate or cost beneficial.

Lucy will be working in six target areas where “rapid response” flooding has been identified as a problem: Halberton, Culmstock, Hemyock, Weaver, Lyner and Kentisbeare. Here she’ll be working with local landowners and communities to identify potential areas requiring improved flood resilience and the use of nature-based solutions to slow down water in the catchment to help reduce flooding.

The project will be running for the next 5 years and is funded (via Devon County Council) by DEFRA. It is part of the £150 million Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme which is managed by the Environment Agency to develop and test new approaches to resilience tailored to local communities.

Lucy has previously worked for Natural England as a Farm Advisor and grew up in the Culm Valley.

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