Home | About Us

View a Witham & Humber Drainage Board

North East Lindsey

Upper Witham

Witham First

Witham Third

About Us

Witham & Humber Drainage Boards are a group of 4 independent statutory Land Drainage, Water Levels and Flood Risk Management Authorities working collectively under a partnership agreement.

Each internal drainage board (IDB) is a public body that manage water levels in an area, known as an internal drainage district, where there is a special need for drainage. IDBs undertake works to reduce flood risk to people and property, and manage water levels for agricultural and environmental needs within their district.

The 4 Witham and Humber Drainage Boards have worked collectively under a joint services partnership agreement since 01st April 2017, when North East Lindsey joined the Group. Prior to then, Witham First DIDB and Witham Third DIDB worked in a similar voluntary partnership for many years, with Upper Witham IDB joining that partnership arrangement in April 2009. The 4 Boards share a range of services including a joint Chief Executive, Financial Services, Ratings Officers, Engineering & Technical Services, planning, consents, enforcement work, environment & GIS support, some Operations Services and administrative and office support functions. Some Operational services, including direct workforces and/or Contractor services, are excluded from the joint services shared arrangement and continue to be organised, managed and provided on an individual IDB basis.

Our Team of Officers and Support Staff are based at Witham House, Meadow Lane, North Hykeham, Lincoln LN6 9GJ.

The Upper Witham IDB has a depot at the same site, Witham House on Meadow Lane, North Hykeham.

Witham First and Witham Third District IDBs share a depot which is at Green Lane, Woodhall Spa.

North East Lindsey DB has an office at New Holland, Barrow on Humber. There is no direct workforce for North East Lindsey, with services being provided on contract by Eric Carnaby & Sons Ltd.

Make an online payment

Report Flooding?

FixMyStreet Mobile App

Lincolnshire Resilience Forum

Meet the Witham and Humber Team

Find out more

Our History

1670 1762 1795 1930 1946 1951 1953 2019

1670

In 1670 an Act was passed “for improving the navigation between the Towne of Boston and the River Trent”. The act recited “that for centuries there had been a good navigation between Boston and the Trent through the City of Lincoln but this was then obstructed and gone to decay by reason of the rivers Witham and Fossdyke being silted up”.

1762

The Witham Act 1762 created the Witham Drainage General Commissioners, who exercised jurisdiction over the drainage by the River Witham, its tributaries and main drains within the six districts of the Witham. The six districts included the First District:- described as ‘the Fens and Lowlands in Lincoln, Lincoln Common, Canwick, Washingborough, Heighington, Branston, Potterhanworth, Nocton, Dunston, Metheringham, Blankney, Linwood, Martin, Timberland, Timberland Thorpe (now known as Thorpe Tilney), Walcott, Billinghay Dales and Dogdyke’; and the Fifth District ‘low lands in the parishes of Anwick, North kyme, Ruskington, Dorrington and Digby’.

1795

In February 1795 the bank of the River Trent at Spalford was breached and nearly 20,000 acres of land to the west of Lincoln was flooded, including the lowlands of Boultham, Skellingthorpe, Burton and South Carlton and Broxholme, these being swamp lands. Also lands in Saxilby, Broadholme, Harby and Wigsley, growing only gorse and ling. The flood was solely due to the melting of snow, a severe frost over a period of two months having preceded the thaw. It was reported at the time: “The bank is formed upon a plain of sandy nature, and when it was broken in 1795, the water forced an immense breach, the size of which may be judged from the fact that eighty loads of faggots and upwards of four hundred tons of earth were required to fill up the hole, an operation which took several weeks to complete.

1930

The 1930 Land Drainage Act provided for the re-organisation of the various districts into elective Internal Drainage Boards and the Witham and Steeping catchment Board submitted a scheme (S.O. 31 – 1934) which established Witham First District Internal Drainage Board. The scheme was confirmed on 8th January 1934.

1946

When the coldest winter in living memory hit in 1946/47, huge piles of snow were left in waiting ready to cause devastation in Lincoln. March soon came around to melt the snow, but that rapid thaw led to widespread flooding and brought with it chaos to the whole of the county. In 1947 a catastrophic combination of high tides, meltwater and a wind surge caused a breach in the flood defences north of the town Crowland which inundated 20 square miles of farmland which surrounded the town and reached the nearby villages of Eye, Thorney and Newborough to the south, the former March to Spalding.

1951

The first meeting of the North East Lindsey Drainage Board was held at the Offices of Grimsby Rural District Council, Chantry Lane, Grimsby on Tuesday 03rd April 1951.

1953

On 30th January 1953 disaster struck the Lincolnshire Coast. A high tide and howling gale smashed the sea defences along 68 miles of coastline and riverbank. 43 people, including 6 young children lost their lives. It is widely regarded as one of the worst peacetime disasters to hit the country in the last century. The long-term effects of the flooding were felt to be disastrous. Lincolnshire is essentially a farming county and although the seaside resorts were dealt a frightful blow to their summer holiday trade, it was the farmers who worried most about the effects of the deluge. There were 17000 acres of prime land under salt water.

2019

In June 2019 Lincolnshire experienced heavy rain over a period of several days peaking with the equivalent of two months rain falling in two days. Wainfleet became the focus of media reporting when the Steeping River breached it's bank flooding the area to the north of the town. Hundreds of homes were evacuated following severe flooding as the local MP warned that residents were “by no means out of the woods yet”. Residents in at least 590 homes in Wainfleet and Thorpe Culvert were told to leave as waters continued to surge. The town first flooded after more than two months’ worth of rain fell in two days, causing the River Steeping to burst its banks. Three RAF helicopters dropped 270 one-tonne sandbags in an attempt to repair the bank.

Our Nature Strategy

Conservation & Wildlife

This Nature Strategy has been prepared by Witham and Humber Drainage Boards in accordance with the commitment in the Implementation Plan of the Defra Internal Drainage Board Review of 2007 for Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs) to produce their own strategy documents.

Find out more

Latest Notices

Election Notice

IDB1 Returns

AGAR Docs

Flooding Alerts in Lincolnshire

Sign up for flood warnings