The council has a co-ordinated approach to managing flood risk across its own services and by working closely with partner agencies so that there is a consistent approach to the treatment of flood risk. These pages provide detailed information about the work the Council and its partners undertake in this area.
Advice for people flooded
Here you will find a series of practical guides for individuals who have become the victim of flooding. It’s important to know who you can turn to and where you can get help and support. We hope you find this information useful.
Key contacts for reporting flooding in Leeds
In an emergency, Leeds City Council can be contacted out of hours on the following telephone number : 0113 3760499.
During office hours: If you are unsure which of the agencies below to contact regarding a flooding issue, please ring Leeds City Council for advice on 0113 222 4407 during office hours.
- Main river flooding please contact the Environment Agency 0845 9881188
- Ordinary Watercourse contact Leeds City Council, Flood Risk Management 0113 3950298
- Culverted (i.e. piped) Watercourse Flood Risk Management 0113 3950298
- Clean water supply mains Yorkshire Water 0845 124 2424
- Public sewer Yorkshire Water 0845 124 2429
- Private sewers and drains Leeds City Council, Environmental Health 0113 222 4406
- The highway Leeds City Council, Highway Services 0113 222 4407
- Run-off from higher land Individual land owner
- Water in cellars Leeds City Council, Environmental Health 0113 222 4406
- Waterlogged gardens Individual land owner
The Council's Policy on issuing sandbags
The Council keeps a small stock of sandbags at various sites, but these are primarily for the protection of public buildings and council properties. A copy of the Council's Policy on sandbags is available in the Downloads section at the bottom of this page.
Flood Emergency Plans
In major flood incidents, the priorities of the Council and its partners are:
- to provide material and technical support to the emergency services and EA in their immediate responses;
- to provide welfare support for people evacuated or stranded in homes;
- to co-ordinate a recovery process to help smooth a return to normality.
To enable this to happen in an effective manner, the Council has developed a number of emergency plans for flooding. There is a generic Flooding Plan suitable for all types of flooding, but other plans have been developed with partners to address specific, known flood risks such as the River Aire in Central Leeds, and the River Wharfe at Otley. The Council is working increasingly with community groups to develop local flooding plans which can be implemented quickly by local residents to address flooding when it happens rather than after emergency responders arrive. This section provides an overview of these arrangements.
Responsibilities for flooding and flood risk
The effective treatment and mitigation of flood risks has long been hindered by the lack of single, clear statutory framework setting out the responsibilities of organisations with a role in maintaining bodies of water or planning and responding to flooding resulting from these.
These include the Environment Agency (enforcement on ‘main rivers’ and reservoirs covered by the Reservoirs Act), the council (enforcement on ordinary watercourses as well as highway gullies, culverts), Yorkshire Water (public sewers, reservoirs) and private landowners with riparian ownership.
This section provides further information around these responsibilities and how you can obtain further information.
Overview of Flood Risk Management
The Leeds district is at risk of flooding from complex set of multiple sources including: large ‘main rivers’ (Rivers Aire, Wharfe and Calder); small ‘main rivers’ (the Wyke, Wortley, Farnley Wood, Meanwood, Cock, Oulton, and Collingham Becks); ordinary watercourses; public sewers; private sewers; highway gullies and culverts; surface water run-off from fields and open spaces as well as reservoirs and lakes with embankments.
