Flood risk strategies, plans and assessments

The Local Flood Risk Management Strategy was adopted in 2024.

In this we set out how we and other agencies work together to improve management of local flood risk.

This is a high-level review of past and potential future flooding events across the county. It is the first step in developing a flood management strategy for Buckinghamshire.

The PFRA is not intended for use as a source of information as to which properties are at risk of flooding

PFRA Preliminary Assessment Report PDF, 8.63MB

PFRA Preliminary Assessment Report Appendices PDF, 14.73MB

The purpose of a Surface Water Management Plan is to:

• identify sustainable responses to manage surface water flooding
• prepare action plans for the areas concerned.

The action plans help plan future decisions and funding applications.

Buckingham Phase 1 SWMP PDF, 4.02MB

Chesham and High Wycombe SWMP PDF, 9.26MB

Chesham SWMP Map PDF, 3.86MB

High Wycombe SWMP Map PDF, 4.47MB

Marlow Phase 1 SWMP PDF, 7.19MB

Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMPs) set out how organisations, stakeholders and communities will work together to manage flood risk.

You can see published FRMPs for the:

• Thames River Basin
• Anglian River Basin

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) requires that all local plans are supported by a Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA).

The SFRA identifies areas that may flood and takes into account all potential sources of flooding. The SFRA is used to:

• inform planning policies
• ensure that new developments manage flood risk

You can view our local development plans online.

Groundwater flooding happens when too much water gathers beneath the ground, causing the water table to rise upwards and eventually reach the ground surface.

The flooding can cause damage to property, buildings and roads and frequently overwhelms drainage and sewer networks, contaminating water and making toilets and showers unusable for long periods.

The communities most at risk from groundwater flooding are those within the chalk catchments of the Chiltern Hills.

Although there is no national mapping available, we have produced maps of the likely locations for groundwater flooding, where it is most likely to emerge and what locations it will impact.

View the maps, which are currently available for:

• Chesham groundwater flood map (PDF, 9.89 MB)
• Marlow groundwater flood map (PDF, 9.88 MB)
• Hambleden groundwater flood map (PDF, 12.75 MB)
• Wycombe groundwater flood map (PDF, 12.27 MB)
• West Wycombe groundwater flood map (PDF, 16 MB)

View alerts for groundwater flooding and updated maps (available soon) on Project Groundwater.