The ULTIMATE event for waterways
& water level management

LATEST NEWS FOR 2025 

We are delighted to announce that Chris Packham CBE will be attending the 2025 event and speaking on the first day. Chris is a naturalist, nature photographer, television presenter and author, best known for his television work.

Chris Packham said "I am very excited to be attending this years Waterways Management Show . Its creative and forward thinking approach is not only timely - it is essential . We are crashing into a crisis and water management will be central to mitigating its impacts .

Only through constructive discussion and the sharing of ideas and skills will we maximise our capacity to adapt and survive . And obviously water is central to life and its sustenance and the mismanagement of our rivers has put it front and central of peoples environmental concerns .

We have to get water management right and this forum offers a real chance for progress’.

FEATURED PRESENTATIONS

Nature based solutions to water resilience at catchment scale

26th November 2025

Ian Jelley, Director of Landscape Recovery, Warwickshire Wildlife Trust

In this presentation, we will explore the catchment-scale approach being implemented in Warwickshire, where partners from the public, private, and voluntary sectors are elevating their ambitions. For years, they have worked collaboratively to deliver nature-based solutions at the catchment level. Recent research and scientific evidence now confirm that investing in these solutions to enhance water resilience provides substantial wider societal benefits. As a result, Warwickshire partners are developing a green finance investment model that allows beneficiaries of clean, usable water to contribute to its sustainability by supporting nature-based projects.

Unlocking the benefits of Natural Flood Management

27th November 2025

Kathryn Brown OBE, Director of Climate Change and Evidence, The Wildlife Trusts

Alison Gardner, Head of Social Impact & ESG, Intact Insurance

Lizzie Hall, Community Project Manager, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

As flood risks intensify across the UK, Natural Flood Management (NFM) is emerging as a critical nature-based solution. Backed by a new report highlighting its wide-ranging benefits, this panel explores how NFM reduces peak flows, boosts biodiversity, and delivers impressive long-term returns, with cost-benefit ratios reaching up to £1:£10.79 over 30 years.

Expect a far-reaching discussion on how communities are responding to climate-driven flooding, why collaboration is key, and what’s needed to scale NFM - from better data and governance to unlocking private investment.

Kathryn Brown OBE, Director of Climate Change and Evidence, The Wildlife Trusts

Waterways Management & Floodex will run alongside the National Civils Show, opening the event up to whole new audience of thousands of interested civil engineers, contractors, developers and planners, involved in construction, utilities, highways, railway and coastal defence professionals. There will be no walls between the events, so that interested visitors can cross between events unimpeded.

We were delighted with the turnout of exhibitors, speakers and visitors. We have some fantastic quotes from exhibitors, that will be in the video, when completed. Including Waterways Management Show alongside Floodex and Drainage Show, proved to be a successful and well received initiative that we expect to expand dramatically for 2025.

The Waterways Management Show experience fantastic exhibitors and support for 2024, both old and new. The Canal and River Trust, Inland Waterways Association, with their Fund Britain's Waterways initiative and The River Restoration Centre  were exhibiting and supporting the Waterways Management Show, whilst Aquamaintain and British Hovercraft company  both had craft on display.

We are also delighted that the Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC), was supporting the event. The SLCC is the professional body for local council clerks and senior council employees for over 5,000 local councils in England and Wales, many of whom will have waterways on or passing through their areas.

There was a particularly interesting presentation around tackling pollution with enzymes, that means we can counter pollution with a system that has no chemical ingredients and therefore safe for fauna and flora. According the the company this is an 'organic Enzyme based remediation solution, which they are able to modify in their labs to suit individual situations.

For instance the formula has the capacity to remediate oil pollution in water, resulting in complete decarbonisation of the pollutant, as opposed to the current method which involves detergents, which simply break-down the pollutant without a trace. There are plenty of other interesting presentations, around thirty in total, across three theatres, covering, waterways management, flood, SuDS and drainage.