For over a century the White Cart Water has inflicted serious flooding on homes and other properties on the south side of Glasgow, with over 20 serious floods in the last century, including one recent occasion when over 500 homes were inundated. The shallow, fast flowing river at White Cart is prone to flash flooding as just 12 hours of rain can raise water levels by 6m.

Halcrow's sustainable solution to the flooding risk includes the construction of three upstream storage areas to hold the bulk of flood water for controlled release once a storm event has passed and the creation of low riverside defences in the form of walls and embankments along the urban corridor.