Case Study: Halcrow achieves optimal flood resilience planning for UK water assets with Palisade @RISK

Halcrow uses @RISK to Determine Level of Flood Resilience Required for UK Water Assets

Halcrow, a CH2M HILL company working on UK water industry resilience, faced the challenge of assessing which water treatment works and pumping stations required investment to withstand severe flooding and how much protection was justified. To manage the large uncertainties around flood probability, damage costs, recovery time and future climate impacts, Halcrow used Palisade’s decision‑support software @RISK to quantify risks, prioritise assets and set risk budgets for Environment Agency and Ofwat commissions.

Using Palisade’s @RISK, Halcrow ran probabilistic river and asset‑level models informed by site surveys to quantify ranges for damage, intervention costs and net present value outcomes. The analysis made tradeoffs clear (for example, showing an intervention to guard against a 0.5% annual event was justified, while adding an extra 300 mm of wall was not) and enabled visual, evidence‑based decisions, better prioritisation of works and the setting of risk budgets—demonstrating Palisade’s role in delivering measurable, cost‑effective flood resilience planning.

Halcrow

Alec Yeowell

Asset Management