For what reason the Grampian region has not been included in the roll-out of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency's enhanced Floodlin…

Much of the Grampian region has already been included in the roll out of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency's (SEPA) Floodline direct warning service. Indeed, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment launched the North East Flood Warning scheme for the rivers Dee, Don, Deveron and North Esk in March 2010. While I understand that the recently launched coastal flood warning scheme for the firths of Forth and Tay on the east coast does not extend as far as the Grampian coastline at the moment, I am sure you will appreciate that it would be impossible for SEPA to develop flood warning schemes for the whole of Scotland simultaneously.
It is important to prioritise public expenditure by targeting efforts where the benefits of investment are greatest. To that end, SEPA has developed a coastal flood vulnerability index, based on exposure to wave and storm surge, number of properties at risk, historical flooding and flood defence availability. This has been used to define the priority areas for coastal flood warning development included in SEPA’s Flood Warning Strategy published on 14 December which sets out forthcoming plans to enhance Scotland’s flood warning coverage.The firths of Forth and Tay were the highest priority areas and that is why the flood warning scheme for this stretch of coastline was launched on 28 January.
A flood warning scheme for the River Carron in Stonehaven is also currently in development and is planned to be rolled out in September 2013. SEPA’s plans also include the delivery of new flood warning schemes for Loch Linnhe (by 2013); Moray Firth and Ness tidal (by 2014); Solway Firth (by 2015) and other at-risk locations through their existing Coastal Flood Alerting Tool by 2016. New fluvial flood warning schemes are also planned for Loch Lomond and River Leven and Garnock by 2016. SEPA will also continue to consider alterations to existing schemes where required and feasible.
In the meantime, Grampian residents who are not within a river or coastal Flood Warning area can still sign up to receive a more general Flood Alert message for the wider geographical area, usually representing local authority boundaries. This flood alerting service is underpinned by the national Coastal Flood Alerting Tool which was significantly improved in 2010. During the recent December storm, Flood Alerts highlighting the risk of coastal flooding were issued 24 hours in advance and we would encourage members of the public to sign up to receive these messages in the future. Further advice and sign up details can be found at the following address: http://floodline.sepa.org.uk/floodingsignup/