somerset floods

[Notmegov]

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/30/dredging-rivers-floods-somerset-levels-david-cameron-farmers

 

Interesting article,

[bobh]

Yes, an interesting article. I totally agree with the point that rivers should be allowed to meander again, thus holding back the rush of a flash flood. Unfortunately this is a totally unsuitable solution for the Somerset levels as the whole infrastructure of the rivers and drains are man made and don't flow with any discernable speed, apart from may be the rivers tone and parret.

I'm not entirely sure the author of this article has seen the levels.

[eggsarascal]

Whilst what is happening in Somerset and elsewhere can & could be classed as anything from tragic to catastrophic, I fail to understand why so many posters seem to, by default, blame unerringly the Government.

 

Whilst the Government/Environment Agency could have (should have!) done more to mitigate some of the problems currently being experienced, let us not lose sight of what the real problem is.

 

Rain.

 

Rain, rain, rain, and more rain! Then, now, and for the rest of this month by the looks of things.

 

The government (of any colour, and at anytime) can be blamed for a lot of injustices in this country, but the weather is natural phenomenon that, at least the last time I looked, cannot be controlled or engineered by any mere mortal organisation.

 

Short of the Environment Agency dredging rivers to almost half the depth of the Grand Canyon, the sheer volume of rain that the South West and elsewhere has received since mid-December, has been unprecedented and record breaking with Atlantic storms hitting the Western side of the country almost every 4/5 days in that time, (by Monday the South Western and Western parts of the country will actually have been hit by 3 major Atlantic storms in a week!)

 

The government does not control the weather. Some inter governmental agencies might have done more sooner, but the result would still have been the same. Even if rivers were more regularly dredged, the removal of a couple of feet of mud would still have not prevented the dramatic flooding that we are currently witnessing, given that it has rained, and rained, for days, weeks, months on end. You only need to look at other threads on AT about tips & ideas for keeping dry whilst trying to work in the current British weather. It been raining consistently everywhere around the country, regrettably, the highest amount of rainfall has fallen in the South West, consequently this region has suffered, with flood waters barely moving for weeks on end, because it hasn't stopped raining for long enough for the flood waters to recede.

 

You cannot blame the government for the rain, or how frequently it falls consistently in the same area. You could argue that this is a foretaste of climate change. There, the culprit is easily identifiable. Its humankind. As long as populations grow, then so will the causes of climate change, if you were to blame anybody then it is all of us, the 7 billion plus (and counting) inhabitants of this tiny little planet in the middle of a barren universe.

 

Cause and effect, we shall all reap what we sow. Flooding in Somerset, tragedy, but not the Governments fault, its the weather stupid, and that is probably the responsibility if not the controllability of us all!

 

:congrats:

 

The most sense spoken on this subject yet.

[Wood wasp]

I would say that humans have a hugely detrimental effect on the planet, we pollute and scar the environment. But to blame us for recent floods as per above posters doesn't make sense, climate has always evolved and weather always had extremes. We may build on inappropriate floodplains which multiplies the impact but extreme floods are nothing new and have been recorded as long as mankind has existed.

 

Link below being one simple example

Living Flood Histories

 

So I'm afraid the culprit isn't easily identifiable after all and as for being responsible for and controlling the weather.. Is that meant to be a serious statement?

Edited February 8, 2014 by Wood wasp

[renewablejohn]

eggsarascal

 

Please take time to go on " the farming forum" site and read the various threads on the Somerset levels. From the detailed posts you will come to realise that the flooding had already started prior to the new year with only average rainfall. Dig a little deeper and it becomes well documented a change in EA policy since 2007 to keep the water levels artificially high in the winter for environmental reasons therefore reducing the winter flood capacity of the levels which has been compounded by the lack of dredging and maintenance of the sluices.

[forestgough]

Wheres the bloody RSPCA when they are needed to help the farmers,if horses or dogs were at risk they would be chucking resources at the situation.

RSPCA has millions in the kitty to help,next thing you know they will be trying to prosecute farmers on crazy welfare charges.

[muldonach]

Whilst what is happening in Somerset and elsewhere can & could be classed as anything from tragic to catastrophic, I fail to understand why so many posters seem to, by default, blame unerringly the Government.

 

Whilst the Government/Environment Agency could have (should have!) done more to mitigate some of the problems currently being experienced, let us not lose sight of what the real problem is.

 

Rain.

 

Rain, rain, rain, and more rain! Then, now, and for the rest of this month by the looks of things.

 

The government (of any colour, and at anytime) can be blamed for a lot of injustices in this country, but the weather is natural phenomenon that, at least the last time I looked, cannot be controlled or engineered by any mere mortal organisation.

 

Short of the Environment Agency dredging rivers to almost half the depth of the Grand Canyon, the sheer volume of rain that the South West and elsewhere has received since mid-December, has been unprecedented and record breaking with Atlantic storms hitting the Western side of the country almost every 4/5 days in that time, (by Monday the South Western and Western parts of the country will actually have been hit by 3 major Atlantic storms in a week!)

 

The government does not control the weather. Some inter governmental agencies might have done more sooner, but the result would still have been the same. Even if rivers were more regularly dredged, the removal of a couple of feet of mud would still have not prevented the dramatic flooding that we are currently witnessing, given that it has rained, and rained, for days, weeks, months on end. You only need to look at other threads on AT about tips & ideas for keeping dry whilst trying to work in the current British weather. It been raining consistently everywhere around the country, regrettably, the highest amount of rainfall has fallen in the South West, consequently this region has suffered, with flood waters barely moving for weeks on end, because it hasn't stopped raining for long enough for the flood waters to recede.

 

You cannot blame the government for the rain, or how frequently it falls consistently in the same area. You could argue that this is a foretaste of climate change. There, the culprit is easily identifiable. Its humankind. As long as populations grow, then so will the causes of climate change, if you were to blame anybody then it is all of us, the 7 billion plus (and counting) inhabitants of this tiny little planet in the middle of a barren universe.

 

Cause and effect, we shall all reap what we sow. Flooding in Somerset, tragedy, but not the Governments fault, its the weather stupid, and that is probably the responsibility if not the controllability of us all!

 

To the best of my knowledge nobody does blam the government for the rain, many people have an issue with the EA refusing to maintain - or allow others to maintain - a managed environment.

[muldonach]

Dredging rivers won't stop floods. It will make them worse | George Monbiot | Comment is free | The Guardian

 

Interesting article,

 

A load of old tosh written by an extremist and carefully slanted so as to miss the point and push his own agenda forward.

 

Nobody has ever so far as I know claimed that dredging would have prevented the present flooding, what they have said is that dredging would have mitigated both duration and extent of the fllooding.

 

The somerset levels are an artificial environment - the watercourses have been deliberately altered and engineered to turn what would naturally be a swamp into a large area of productive farmland.

 

In recent years the EA has prevented ongoing maintenance from taking place as a matter of deliberate policy - if that is the policy then fair enough - however to see that policy through they will need to relocate most if not all of the population in the affected area.

 

Cheers

mac

[SteveA]

Dredging rivers won't stop floods. It will make them worse | George Monbiot | Comment is free | The Guardian

 

Interesting article,

 

Personally I believe it's a good article & the right way forwards, and it needs doing on a massive scale.

Here's my vote to planting many thousands of trees and having hundreds of miles of proper thick hedges instead of the pathetic unmanaged gappy field boundaries that are infilled in with posts & barbed wire as a quick fix

It's also a great opportunity to get hundreds of people into outdoor work.

[Hanser]

Sack the EA quango and get the Dutch over - they know a thing or two about draining wetlands