Ousewem: the people beneath the surface of the Ouse, working hard to help keep Yorkshire safe
Ousewem. It sounds like a terrible affliction, likely to be contagious, and native only to the river upon which life in and around York has grown. Something you might contract as a result of the serial offending, well-documented in this newspaper, by Yorkshire Water.
Don’t worry. It is nothing of the sort, though I am not surprised should you perhaps have not heard of Ousewem. I hadn’t, until recently.
So, whilst her job title may not flow as willingly off-the-tongue as the water does along the River Ouse, Innovative Flood Resilience Senior Project Manager (let’s call her IFRSPM for short) Victoria Murray invited me along to see for myself that which Ousewem is all about.
We took a stroll along the river bank, and we talked. We talked a lot, and before I knew it, the weird job titles, acronyms and initial assumptions about water-borne infections were supplanted by the seriousness of living with, existing alongside one of the most powerful rivers in the country. Majestic at times, serene very often. A source of infinite joy, wonderment, exercise and mindfulness at its best; a destructive, untameable beast of burden at its worst. A killer of people; destroyer of lives, livelihoods and property.
So, what is Ousewem? Ousewem, in short, is a flood management organisation. Note, they don’t say flood prevention anymore. For good reason. Preventing flooding isn’t possible. Not with any sort of guarantee, at least. And this is something Victoria and I mused on a lot. People need to understand that stopping floods from ever happening again is not possible.
Because I wasn’t documenting nor recording our conversation, you must rely on my paraphrasing thereof, but we discussed, at length, questions about why people stick with living alongside the Ouse and waterways just like it. Why do people knowingly choose to live alongside something that can and inevitably will submerge your home, your business and your community in stinking floodwaters from time to time?
Our answers were aligned: the sheer beauty of it. The lifestyle rivers can offer. The wildlife rivers support. The list went on and on. But, Victoria reminded me, as time goes on, that riverside lifestyle comes at a cost.
That’s where Ousewem and its flood resilience partners come in, innovating, testing and implementing targeted, nature-based solutions across the Swale, Ure, Nidd and Ouse catchments in a bid to protect, as far is humanly possible, life, limb and property.
For as long as its share of the £200m Defra funding lasts, Victoria and her colleagues will live and breathe slowing the flow along the North Yorkshire river catchments. My question to Victoria was this: “Do you think the people of York and those downstream of the Ouse think about the next flood event?”
With the sun shining, the coffees flowing at the ridiculously oh-so-York Perky Peacock (you must pay them a visit, it is literally the best coffee shop in all of Yorkshire), she mused: “Of course not. People live busy lives. It wouldn’t be healthy for people to worry about something that isn’t happening or hasn’t happened. But it will happen.”
And then she turned the tables on me: Victoria leaned on me as an editor and as a communicator. Someone with a platform who can reach others. “I’m keen for people to offer ideas as to how we help people to understand how best to live with the river? How do we mobilise everyone at risk of losing something to floodwater to care more deeply about the things we can do when the sun is shining and the waters calm to head off a flood event?”
Which is where you come in: do please send to me any ideas you may have for Ousewem and its partners to improve the overall understanding of risk when it comes to flooding - from creche to care home. And do search online for Ousewem; take a moment to read about its ‘slow-the’flow’ initiatives. By building community engagement and understanding (or what we used to call, making people care about it) there is a part to play for us all in helping one another to guard against unwelcome water.
For my part, I want to thank Victoria for her company along our walk. For her incredible passion and expertise and for the inspiration I hope to pass on to you, our readers, when it comes to building awareness, knowledge, understanding and, crucially, confidence in what to do for the best should the worst come to pass.
As I said previously, you may not even know that Ousewem is there. But take it from me: we are all better for it.
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