How nature-based solutions are helping Norfolk combat a water crisis

From the flitting Norfolk Hawker dragonfly to water voles sliding among the reed beds of the fens, Norfolk is a nature lover’s dream. Not only is the county home to 25 rare chalk streams (there are only 200 in the world), it also includes rolling fields, woodland, grazing marsh and 90 miles of coastline.

The Norfolk Broads, comprised of rivers, lakes (known as “broads”) and wildlife, is one of the most biodiverse of all the UK’s national parks and is Britain’s largest protected wetland .

Yet a threat is looming for Norfolk – it’s one of the driest counties in the UK.

Water supplies under stress

When the rain does come in Norfolk, it’s prone to flooding. As the natural landscape has been modified over the years to maximise flood protection, its rivers and wetlands now face the threat of drought. The local water supply is increasingly stretched by the irrigation demands of its farms – a growing local population only adds to the strain.

Now, the jaws of climate change are closing. With heat warnings becoming the norm, the Environment Agency is capping licences , limiting the amount of water that water companies can use. The government is warning that England’s public water supply could be short by five billion litres a day by 2055. 

In Norfolk, that threat is more immediate. Water-scarcity risks are constraining economic activity, and unless these risks are addressed, the county can expect increasingly harsh restrictions on housing , farming and business.

Nature-based solutions at the forefront

The good news is that a wellspring of innovation is bubbling up to tackle this challenge.

The Norfolk Water Strategy Programme (NWSP) is a partnership between The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Norfolk County Council, Anglian Water and Water Resources East . The Programme’s team work with local farmers to trial nature-based solutions, boosting biodiversity on their land and restoring its natural powers to retain water. 

For example, one method being employed to help waterways to reduce and slow runoff is creating leaky ponds and buffer strips and improving soil management. TNC’s modelling shows that nature-based solutions could increase low flows in Norfolk by as much as 10 percent. 

“Building a reservoir or desalination plant will help maintain the public water supply, but it will do nothing to protect the river from the extreme droughts we’re seeing more often,” says Rob Cunningham, TNC’s Resilient Watershed Programme director for Europe. “Nature-based solutions that increase the storage in the aquifer to feed the river are the only way to change that.”

Cultivating new revenue

The benefits of NWSP’s approach have been brilliantly demonstrated by its pilot scheme, the Wendling Beck Project . In collaboration with local farmers, it showcases another crucial facet of the work: exploring how nature-based solutions can bring farmers much-needed income.

For Glenn Anderson, a fifth-generation farmer and strategy lead at Wendling Beck, that meant returning his arable land back to its original grassland state, and working with TNC to examine options like nutrient mitigation, biodiversity net gain (BNG), regenerative horticulture and ecotourism. 

“The only way to solve the big societal issues is to make them part of an economic story,” says Anderson. “These programmes show how to deliver nature-based solutions at scale through collaboration, using a blended finance mechanism of private funds and government support.”

Through the NWSP, Norfolk now has the chance to become an international flag-bearer for innovative water management, at a time when the link between nature, climate and a healthy economy is becoming much more widely accepted. 

Research by the World Economic Forum shows that more than half of the world’s GDP – approximately US$44 trillion – is dependent to some degree on nature. UK policy is starting to reflect that. Biodiversity net gain , a legal requirement introduced in 2024, put the onus on housing developers to improve biodiversity where they’re building; nutrient neutrality obliges them to mitigate waste water. Both measures incorporate a credit system at nearby biodiversity sites.

The NWSP states that every £1 invested in nature could give a return of £6.70 , through improved water quality and quantity, reclaimed biodiversity, greater levels of carbon in the soil and higher employment – plus the fact that it makes businesses in the area more viable long-term. 

From ideas to impact

None of this happens without effective money management. RBC’s European businesses are supporting TNC through the NWSP’s Norfolk Water Fund, which launched in Feb. 2024.

“We’re here to support TNC in testing and scaling innovative approaches to protecting and restoring nature in financially sustainable ways,” says Tom Blathwayt, Sustainability Group director for RBC’s European businesses. 

The bank is backing the NWSP’s expanding pipeline of pilots and offering the benefit of its wealth management expertise. 

“Having RBC’s support to build these projects will be invaluable,” says Cunningham. “We can do great things with the donations, but we can also call on its investment knowledge. Nature markets [systems where natural goods, such as agricultural products; services, such as carbon sequestration; and financial products that directly reflect ecosystem values or risks, such as biodiversity loss insurance] may land us upfront payments, but will also require management for 30 or 40 years. RBC can help us explore the options for low-risk, ethical investments to mitigate the impact of inflation.” 

Nature above all else

Today, the Norfolk Water Fund has seven pilot projects across the county and plans to launch more as it works towards building a £30 million portfolio of nature-based solutions .

This is critical work. Protecting and restoring nature is a key part of tackling climate change, and vital for both local communities and the global economy. Meanwhile, as nature markets scale, they could become increasingly important for investors, holding promise for delivering returns and the potential to support the economy and our climate.

But amid all those other considerations, the land and water remain the priority – come rain or shine.

“There’s no silver bullet for the water crisis,” says Anderson. “It’s about delivering thousands of miniature nature-based solutions across a huge density of catchments and regions. If you want the finance to flow, do things well for nature first.”

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