Glossary

Please use the glossary to help you understand the technical terms that you may come across whilst using this website.


APPRAISAL CRITERIA

All options are assessed against a number of appraisal criteria, which include: flood risk; health & safety; constructability, economics, environment, stakeholder considerations and sustainability.


ADAPTATION PATHWAY PROCESS

A decision making process for dealing with significant uncertainties, including climate change and sea level rise. Externally we can describe this as ‘phases’ or ‘steps’ in a decision making process for the coastal future.


ADAPT OPTIONS

A project option that changes/alters (‘adapts’) from the current traditional coastal management approaches i.e. maintain, sustain and improve. Managed realignment would be only one example of an adapt option. Externally we can describe this as ‘a different vision for the future of the coastline’.


BEACH CREST

This is the highest point of a beach front.


BENEFIT COST RATIO

The ratio of the benefits of a scheme option or proposal, expressed in monetary terms, relative to its costs, also expressed in monetary terms. If the benefit cost ratio is greater than 1, the benefits outweigh the costs.


BIODIVERSITY

A term used to describe the variety of life on Earth, it can refer more specifically to all the species in one region or ecosystem. Biodiversity refers to every living thing, including plants, bacteria, animals and humans.


BIODIVERSITY NET GAIN

An approach to development that leaves biodiversity in a better state than before. Developers are encouraged to bring forward schemes that provide an overall increase in natural habitat and ecological features. Its aim is to minimise losses of biodiversity and help to restore ecological networks.


BREACH

A gap in the defence caused by the beach eroding in a storm that allows water to pass through.


CARBON

Carbon is in all living things. When we talk about carbon (carbon footprint, carbon emissions), we are referring to a range of greenhouse gases that trap heat close to the earth. It is this act of trapping the heat which explains why such gases (including carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane) are labelled a ‘greenhouse gas’. Fossil fuels contain carbon which were previously stored in living things, and when burned it releases CO2 into the atmosphere.


FLOOD AND COASTAL EROSION RISK MANAGEMENT GRANT IN AID (FCERM GIA)

The funding from Central Government for managing flood risk in England.


FLOOD AND COASTAL EROSION RISK MANAGEMENT APPRAISAL GUIDANCE

This Government guidance sets out the steps that we need to follow throughout the project appraisal, which we must comply with in order to receive funding. The appraisal process uses a range of information, for example, river modelling, costs, economic benefits, condition surveys of the assets, historical information, habitat surveys and feedback from stakeholders. This is used to understand both opportunities and constraints present. All of these are taken into account when determining the preferred pathways for the scheme.


IMPROVE

Defences are made more resilient to increase the level of coastal flood and erosion protection provided to land and properties behind them.


LARGE PROJECTS REVIEW GROUP

This is a group within the Environment Agency independent from the Project Board which provides assurance and confidence that the project will achieve the planned benefits and outcomes and adhere to HM Treasury guidelines.


LONGSHORE DRIFT

The zig-zag movement of material along the shore by sea wave action.


MAINTAIN

Work is done to the existing defences to keep them in good condition and prevent them from failing. As the sea levels rise, flood risk increases over time which means the amount of resilience from flooding provided to the land and property behind the defence will gradually decrease. When the defences come towards the end of their life, a ‘trigger point’ in the pathway approach reached, prompting a decision about the next phase of potential investment.


PARTNERSHIP FUNDING CALCULATOR AND PARTNERSHIP FUNDING SCORE

The partnership funding calculator is used to generate a Partnership Funding (PF) score. This score determines the proportion of a project’s costs which can be paid for using Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Grant in Aid (FCERM GiA), with any shortfall in funding needing to be found from other sources. These other sources can include local authorities, water companies, private businesses and individual land or property owners.


PEVENSEY BAY

A coastal village in East Sussex. In project terms this is a geographic area which comprises of 3 distinct and different frontage units; Pevensey Bay village; Normans Bay; Herbrand Walk


PEVENSEY

A village in East Sussex, set back from the coastline, but within the project benefit area.


PROJECT BOARD

The Project Board is made of senior decision makers at the Environment Agency and project partners, and they will make a decision on how to proceed with the scheme.


STANDARD OF PROTECTION (SoP)

Standard of protection is defined by the size of storm event that the defence is designed to withstand. Storm size is expressed as a probability of that event happening. So, a winter storm that we’d expect to occur every year would be a 1 in 1 year or 100% occurrence (even though we may have some years without one and others with more than one). A storm that has a chance of 0.5% of happening in any given year means that on average we would expect such an extreme storm to only occur once every 200 years.


SUSTAIN

In general, the same or similar works are done in the 'Maintain' approach, but in the future, following the pathway approach, the defences would be built accommodate the forecast increase in sea levels and storm magnitude. This means over time the level of resilience from flooding and erosion provided to the land and property behind the defence stays the same as present day.


Please use the glossary to help you understand the technical terms that you may come across whilst using this website.


APPRAISAL CRITERIA

All options are assessed against a number of appraisal criteria, which include: flood risk; health & safety; constructability, economics, environment, stakeholder considerations and sustainability.


ADAPTATION PATHWAY PROCESS

A decision making process for dealing with significant uncertainties, including climate change and sea level rise. Externally we can describe this as ‘phases’ or ‘steps’ in a decision making process for the coastal future.


ADAPT OPTIONS

A project option that changes/alters (‘adapts’) from the current traditional coastal management approaches i.e. maintain, sustain and improve. Managed realignment would be only one example of an adapt option. Externally we can describe this as ‘a different vision for the future of the coastline’.


BEACH CREST

This is the highest point of a beach front.


BENEFIT COST RATIO

The ratio of the benefits of a scheme option or proposal, expressed in monetary terms, relative to its costs, also expressed in monetary terms. If the benefit cost ratio is greater than 1, the benefits outweigh the costs.


BIODIVERSITY

A term used to describe the variety of life on Earth, it can refer more specifically to all the species in one region or ecosystem. Biodiversity refers to every living thing, including plants, bacteria, animals and humans.


BIODIVERSITY NET GAIN

An approach to development that leaves biodiversity in a better state than before. Developers are encouraged to bring forward schemes that provide an overall increase in natural habitat and ecological features. Its aim is to minimise losses of biodiversity and help to restore ecological networks.


BREACH

A gap in the defence caused by the beach eroding in a storm that allows water to pass through.


CARBON

Carbon is in all living things. When we talk about carbon (carbon footprint, carbon emissions), we are referring to a range of greenhouse gases that trap heat close to the earth. It is this act of trapping the heat which explains why such gases (including carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane) are labelled a ‘greenhouse gas’. Fossil fuels contain carbon which were previously stored in living things, and when burned it releases CO2 into the atmosphere.


FLOOD AND COASTAL EROSION RISK MANAGEMENT GRANT IN AID (FCERM GIA)

The funding from Central Government for managing flood risk in England.


FLOOD AND COASTAL EROSION RISK MANAGEMENT APPRAISAL GUIDANCE

This Government guidance sets out the steps that we need to follow throughout the project appraisal, which we must comply with in order to receive funding. The appraisal process uses a range of information, for example, river modelling, costs, economic benefits, condition surveys of the assets, historical information, habitat surveys and feedback from stakeholders. This is used to understand both opportunities and constraints present. All of these are taken into account when determining the preferred pathways for the scheme.


IMPROVE

Defences are made more resilient to increase the level of coastal flood and erosion protection provided to land and properties behind them.


LARGE PROJECTS REVIEW GROUP

This is a group within the Environment Agency independent from the Project Board which provides assurance and confidence that the project will achieve the planned benefits and outcomes and adhere to HM Treasury guidelines.


LONGSHORE DRIFT

The zig-zag movement of material along the shore by sea wave action.


MAINTAIN

Work is done to the existing defences to keep them in good condition and prevent them from failing. As the sea levels rise, flood risk increases over time which means the amount of resilience from flooding provided to the land and property behind the defence will gradually decrease. When the defences come towards the end of their life, a ‘trigger point’ in the pathway approach reached, prompting a decision about the next phase of potential investment.


PARTNERSHIP FUNDING CALCULATOR AND PARTNERSHIP FUNDING SCORE

The partnership funding calculator is used to generate a Partnership Funding (PF) score. This score determines the proportion of a project’s costs which can be paid for using Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Grant in Aid (FCERM GiA), with any shortfall in funding needing to be found from other sources. These other sources can include local authorities, water companies, private businesses and individual land or property owners.


PEVENSEY BAY

A coastal village in East Sussex. In project terms this is a geographic area which comprises of 3 distinct and different frontage units; Pevensey Bay village; Normans Bay; Herbrand Walk


PEVENSEY

A village in East Sussex, set back from the coastline, but within the project benefit area.


PROJECT BOARD

The Project Board is made of senior decision makers at the Environment Agency and project partners, and they will make a decision on how to proceed with the scheme.


STANDARD OF PROTECTION (SoP)

Standard of protection is defined by the size of storm event that the defence is designed to withstand. Storm size is expressed as a probability of that event happening. So, a winter storm that we’d expect to occur every year would be a 1 in 1 year or 100% occurrence (even though we may have some years without one and others with more than one). A storm that has a chance of 0.5% of happening in any given year means that on average we would expect such an extreme storm to only occur once every 200 years.


SUSTAIN

In general, the same or similar works are done in the 'Maintain' approach, but in the future, following the pathway approach, the defences would be built accommodate the forecast increase in sea levels and storm magnitude. This means over time the level of resilience from flooding and erosion provided to the land and property behind the defence stays the same as present day.


Page published: 27 Feb 2025, 09:09 PM