In addition to the NRFA's Long Hydrometric Records holding, an excellent source of additional historical river flow (and groundwater) information is the British Hydrological Society’s Chronology of British Hydrological Events (CBHE) website. The Chronology is provided for those with an interest in the past behaviours of British rivers. As we have seen in recent years, there has been an increased awareness of variability of hydrological events, and decision-making, such as flood estimation for example, is considered to be enhanced by the use of historic information. Launched in 1998, this important source of early hydrological data provides a focus for the collation of hydrological information for the period up to 1929.
This active web resource records thousands of significant hydrological events in its database and covers historical hydrological facts, floods and droughts, surface and groundwaters embracing all elements of the hydrological cycle. The NRFA's Long Hydrometric Records initiative may be seen as complementary to the CBHE.
The chronology does not claim to be exhaustive, but seeks to point users towards useful sources of further information. It is freely accessible for anyone to search and, if you have access to historic records which would complement the existing data holdings, you are encouraged to consider adding them to the database.
