Somerset Drainage Boards Consortium. Reserved

What Somerset Drainage Boards Consortium. Reserved does

The Somerset Drainage Boards Consortium is a statutory public body consortium that manages the operations and affairs of three Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs) in low-lying Somerset, England: Axe Brue IDB (formed 2012), Parrett IDB (formed 2005), and North Somerset Levels IDB (formed 2011). The Consortium was established to provide shared Engineering, Administration, Legal, Finance, and Clerking support across the three boards while each retains autonomous public-body status under the Land Drainage Act 1991. Operating from Bradbury House in Highbridge, the organisation employs 12 staff and serves approximately 66,705 homes and businesses across 66,843 hectares of the Somerset Levels and Moors and North Somerset Levels.

The Consortium's core operations centre on watercourse maintenance (1,492 km of viewed rhynes cleaned annually from May to February), water level management via 581 water level control structures (sluices, pumping stations), and delivery of engineering capital projects including the King Sedgemoor Drain Bank Raising Works and the recently completed Chedzoy Tilting Weir (2025). It operates an Annual Water Injection Dredging Programme on the River Parrett, technically validated by HR Wallingford since 2016. Technology infrastructure comprises an ARC GIS-based interactive mapping portal and a mobile defects database application with GPS integration for field operative reporting. Statutory services include Land Drainage Consent processing, planning consultation with Somerset Council and North Somerset Council, environmental management (invasive species control, Biodiversity Action Plan, 8,950 hectares of SSSI protection), and eleven Water Level Management Plans across the catchment areas.

The Consortium's revenue model is fundamentally non-commercial: it is funded through annual drainage rates (pence per pound of agricultural land value, set each January), a Special Levy charged to district and unitary authorities on behalf of non-agricultural property owners, DEFRA Grant-in-Aid for capital works, and Somerset Rivers Authority project funding. Customer segments are defined by geography rather than market choice — agricultural landowners (ratepayers), non-agricultural property owners (via Special Levy), developers requiring Land Drainage Consent, and the elected/appointed board members who provide democratic governance. The Consortium is not a commercial enterprise; it has no parent company, no venture funding, and no equity ownership, operating instead as a publicly funded, democratically governed statutory body.

Name

Somerset Drainage Boards Consortium. Reserved

Legal name

Somerset Drainage Boards Consortium

Website

https://somersetdrainageboards.gov.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Somerset Drainage Boards Consortium is a 12-employee statutory public body that manages water level and flood risk infrastructure across three Internal Drainage Boards covering 66,843 hectares of low-lying Somerset, maintaining 1,492 km of watercourse and 581 control structures for 66,705 homes and businesses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Flood Risk and Water Level Management Services

NAICS

Administration of Air and Water Resource and Solid Waste Management Programs (924110)

SIC

Electric, Gas & Sanitary Services (4900)

akta.pro primary industry

Water Resources Administration (Watersheds, Rivers, Groundwater) (BPAIAMAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Culverts, Bridges & Cross-Drainage Structures (Hydraulic Capacity & Rehabilitation) (EUANAEAC)

Keywords

• Water level management
• Flood risk management
• Watercourse maintenance
• Land drainage consents
• Internal drainage board

Headquarters

HQ city

Highbridge

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Drainage Rates: Annual drainage rates charged to occupiers of agricultural land within internal drainage districts, calculated as a rate per pound (£) of assessed land value. Rates are set annually by the Board meetings and advertised on the drainage rate page.
2. Special Levy: Special levy charged to district or unitary authorities in respect of non-agricultural land (domestic houses, factories, shops), which pay Council Tax or Business Rates to the local authority. The formula for split between rates and levy is set down in the Land Drainage Act 1991.
3. DEFRA Grant-in-Aid: Grant funding towards cost of capital projects, provided as a percentage of work cost determined by DEFRA.
4. Somerset Rivers Authority Funding: Grant funding for capital projects delivered as SRA delivery partner, including King Sedgemoor Drain Bank Raising Works, Chedzoy Tilting Weir, and Annual Water Injection Dredging Programme.
5. Rechargeable Works: Watercourse maintenance and other work carried out on behalf of third parties, charged to the relevant party.
6. Planning and Consent Fees: Fees charged for processing planning applications and land drainage consents, with a 60-day consultation period.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Somerset Drainage Boards Consortium manages the operations and affairs of three Internal Drainage Boards (Axe Brue, Parrett, and North Somerset Levels) in Somerset, UK. It delivers statutory water level management, flood risk management, watercourse maintenance (1,492km of viewed rhynes), land drainage consent processing, planning consultation, engineering projects, and environmental management services under the Land Drainage Act 1991.

Product overview

The Somerset Drainage Boards Consortium is a public body consortium providing water level and flood risk management services across Somerset through three constituent Internal Drainage Boards: Axe Brue IDB (formed 2012), Parrett IDB (formed 2005), and North Somerset Levels IDB (formed 2011). The Consortium operates as a unified organization delivering core services including watercourse maintenance (1,492km of viewed rhynes), flood risk management, water levels management, land drainage consents, planning consultation, engineering projects, environmental management, and drainage rates administration. The service portfolio is organized as a set of interconnected regulatory, operational, and administrative services rather than a software product platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Watercourse Maintenance Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 1,492km of viewed rhynes maintained annually
• +2 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Somerset Rivers Authority was launched in January 2015 as a response to devastating floods of winter 2013-14. The Consortium acts as delivery partner for SRA-funded projects including King Sedgemoor Drain Bank Raising Works, Chedzoy Tilting Weir (completed 2025), and Annual Water Injection Dredging Programme on the River Parrett (delivered since 2016).
• Environment AgencycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey partner in flood risk management and water level control. Environment Agency has permissive powers to carry out maintenance and improvement works on Main Rivers. Collaborates with Consortium on Water Level Management Plans, invasive species control, and floating pennywort eradication action plan.
• Natural EnglandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in SRA and collaborator on Water Level Management Plan reviews. Provides specialist conservation advice on watercourse maintenance within SSSI and protected species (badgers, otters, water voles).
• Somerset CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey SRA partner and Lead Local Flood Authority. Responsible for surface water, groundwater, and ordinary watercourse flood risk management. Receives Special Levy from Boards for non-agricultural properties. Highway authority for parts of Somerset area.
• Wessex WaterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSRA partner responsible for public sewers and utility pipes. Contact point for sewer water issues in Somerset area.
• Wessex Regional Flood & Coastal CommitteeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSRA partner providing regional coordination on flood and coastal risk management across the Wessex area.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• South West Water: Water and wastewater utility serving Devon, Cornwall and small parts of Somerset and Dorset. Adjacent regional utility operating similar regulated water and wastewater infrastructure with comparable geographic and customer-base characteristics to the Consortium's Somerset operations.
• Severn Trent Water: Major UK water and wastewater utility serving around 8 million customers across the Midlands. Comparable large regulated infrastructure operator with similar capital-intensive water-network renewal programmes and statutory customer obligations to the Consortium's drainage infrastructure role.
• Wessex Water: Regional water and wastewater utility serving 2.9 million customers across the southwest including parts of Somerset. Operates regulated water infrastructure in the same geography under similar statutory and Ofwat-style oversight, providing a comparable utility benchmark for water services and infrastructure renewal.
• Anglian Water: Largest water utility by geographic area in England, serving around 5 million customers with extensive water and wastewater networks. Comparable utility-scale operator with similar infrastructure renewal, flood-resilience and environmental-compliance pressures to the Consortium's Somerset drainage districts.

Others

• HR Wallingford: Independent civil-engineering and environmental-hydraulics research organisation that has overseen the Consortium's Water Injection Dredging trials since 2016. Comparable as a specialist technical consultancy supporting flood-risk and watercourse-management programmes of the type the Consortium delivers.
• Natural England: Statutory public body advising on nature conservation in England and an existing partner of the Consortium on Water Level Management Plan reviews and protected-species work. Comparable as an adjacent public-sector body operating in the same Somerset environment with overlapping regulatory and advisory remits.
• Mott MacDonald: Global engineering consultancy with a substantial water, flood-risk and environment practice advising on drainage, fluvial and coastal schemes. Comparable as a professional-services counterpart supporting flood-risk management and water-infrastructure programmes similar to those the Consortium commissions and delivers.

Broad incumbents

• Environment Agency: UK national public body with statutory powers over flood risk management on Main Rivers, water quality and environmental protection. Comparable as a public-sector regulator-operator of water and flood infrastructure, though at national rather than district scale and with broader environmental remit than the Consortium's drainage focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/dredgingtrials
• YouTubefacebook.com/dredgingtrials
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/somerset-drainage-boards-consortium.-reserved

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Somerset Drainage Boards Consortium. Reserved