H20:Source2Sea European Union Funding

About the project

• Total project budget: €2,496,348.60
  European Regional Development Fund amount: €1,722,480.51
• Name of funding programme - Interreg V A France (Channel) England 2014 – 2020
• Start and end dates - January 2019 to March 2023

The H20 (H20:Source2Seas) project aims to overcome barriers to integrated water and ecosystem management in lowland areas adapting to climate change by:

• identifying and valuing natural flood and drought management solutions to supplement and overcoming the high costs of hard infrastructure
• restoring ecosystems in lowland areas
• enhancing the evidence base for climate resilient decision making
• addressing the fragmentation of policy across the water system
• demonstrating natural methods of managing flooding and drought and encouraging the wider roll-out of these across the Channel area and beyond.

For more information, visit the project website.

Partners

• Kent Wildlife Trust (UK)
• Centre Permanent d’Initiatives pour l’Environnement Val d’Authie (France)
• Nausicaà, Centre national de la mer (France).

Aims and objectives

• Increase implementation of natural flood and drought management strategies/adaptive water management in Kent and the Channel area
• Increase stakeholder engagement in integrated water management decision-making
• Demonstrate the value of natural flood and drought management in the channel area
• Reduce pollution into transnational and coastal waters.

Anticipated outcomes

• Reduction in total costs of managing water issues and climate change
• Improvement in water quality by reducing nutrients, pollution and sediment
• Reduction of water stress and improvement of fresh water usage
• Tools and guidance to deliver adaptive water management measures tailored to local scenarios.

Key benefits for Kent

• Reduction of long-term impacts of flooding, droughts and polluted waterways
• Lowland areas are better adapted to climate change
• Improved water quality and ecosystem benefits