The Environment Agency has appointed Jacobs to design, develop and implement the National Flood Risk Assessment 2 (NaFRA2), described as a pioneering cloud computing system to help manage flood risk in England.

Along with JBA Consulting and a small group of industry and academic experts, Jacobs will combine its own flood modelling experience with web technologies and cloud computing to develop a system that underpins national-scale flood analysis in England. The Environment Agency estimates the four-year contract value at £8m.

“We believe this will be the world’s first cloud-based, interactive national flood risk assessment system combining local and national flood modelling for rivers, sea and surface water,” said Donald Morrison, Jacobs people & places solutions senior vice-president and general manager, Europe, Middle East and Africa. “Once operational it will enable the Environment Agency to manage flood risk in England more effectively and efficiently.”

NaFRA2 will be designed to store, process and manipulate input data, and manage the production of outputs. The project includes substantial national-scale flood modelling, spanning scenarios for different flood defence states, breaching, blockage and climate change. These will help the Environment Agency produce a comprehensive picture of risk and uncertainty, including core public national flood risk information and data to support flood incidents.

“We are thinking and acting differently on this challenging and groundbreaking project,” said Steve Moore, Environment Agency national director of operations and project sponsor. “Our work with Jacobs will help to identify and alleviate the risk of flooding that currently affects more than 5.2 million properties in England.”