Now, There's A Thing!

[Wussername]

Surely this is what marsh land was meant to do.

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/23936122.ludhams-buttle-marsh-peat-restoration-scheme-approved/

[Smoggy]

27 minutes ago, Wussername said:

Surely this is what marsh land was meant to do.

But you can't possibly trust nature to do what it has always done without a decision from our glorious leader!

How else will he claim credit and justify his existance?

[Bikertov]

Or, look at the River Great Ouse and its' flood plains, doing what they are meant to, controlling the water flow and flooding.

... although it also means little boating being done at the moment as the locks are all closed ...

[dom]

The main saviour with the Great Ouse is the washes between the Old and New Bedford Rivers, which are basically just huge sinks for flood water. It's not perfect though. The wash at Earith Bridge regularly floods, leaving us cut off in Ely direction for weeks, or even months on end. Welney has similar, but worse issues.

Flooding issues used to be a lot worse and I can remember back in the late 90s there was one year when the river came over and flooded half of the road on The Waits in the middle of St.Ives. Low Road past Jones' Boatyard's entrance through to Fenstanton also flooded. A mate of mine drove it in his Land Rover and the water actually came over the bonnet. I lived in St.Ives at the time and communting was a nightmare for months on end.

After that issue, the road around the entrance to Jones' yard was raised and drainage improved. More recently, the river was subjected to heavy dredging around Earith Bridge, which seemed to make a big difference and reduced the level of flooding across the flood plains around Holywell. Which is why I wonder whether the dredging in Great Yarmouth might have an effect on the current issues on the Broads.

Ironically, the Fens in general actually have the opposite problem. They're drying out and dropping substantially due to shrinkage of the land. In the mid 19th century, posts were hammered into the earth down to ground level at Holme Fen. When they first went in, the ground was dropping 9 inches a year. They're now 4m above ground level due to peat shrinkage as the land dries out because of the drainage schemes.

 

[dom]

4 hours ago, Smoggy said:

But you can't possibly trust nature to do what it has always done without a decision from our glorious leader!

People need to start challenging his ability, rather than just complaining (that comment's not aimed at you personally Smoggy).

I think the easiest way to start eroding the footings of his ivory tower would be making FOI requests for 5 and 10 year budgets and flood risk mitigation plans. If they don't exist, it highlights a lack of foresight and planning. If they do, inaccuracies and poor forecasting or planning will soon start to come to light.

[Wussername]

In September 2023 the Environment Agency and Defra announced £25 million funding for improving flood resilience through a new NFM programme. We (the Environment Agency) are managing this programme. The NFM Programme will help meet the aims of the: government's policy statement on flooding and coastal erosion.

With regard to the above statement by EA I am confused as to who exactly is responsible. 

 

[grendel]

if it goes pear shaped it will be someone else, if it works, they will all be claiming responsibility

[rightsaidfred]

27 minutes ago, Wussername said:

In September 2023 the Environment Agency and Defra announced £25 million funding for improving flood resilience through a new NFM programme. We (the Environment Agency) are managing this programme. The NFM Programme will help meet the aims of the: government's policy statement on flooding and coastal erosion.

With regard to the above statement by EA I am confused as to who exactly is responsible. 

 

The EA are responsible for flood management, while this scheme may have ecological benefits how is it going to have any impact on flooding on the Bure and Thurne caused by North Sea surges and tidal locking.

Fred

[Wussername]

But the Broads Authority said two areas of the Ant had been dredged in the last five years and it was 'not a high priority'.

They said they had dredged 26,000 cubic metres of sediment from the Bure, which the Ant, feeds into, between 2016 and 2019.

It only dredges rivers to keep them navigable rather than to stop flooding. It is the job of the Environment Agency to look after flood defences.

EDP.

[marshman]

It is always the EA who have final control of most water related issues - where it may have a minor impact is in holding a small amount of water back in an upstream area. Given its size, the overall impact will always be minimal.

At the moment, I am not sure its directly connected to the river system as I believe it is behind the flood wall so this would be a new area allowed to flood and perform its proper function. Currently I believe it is drained by "flap valves" which prevent water getting in but allow it out - presumably now they will work both ways.

However,I am a mere commoner and I could be talking a complete load of spherical objects!!

[BroadAmbition]

More recently, the river was subjected to heavy dredging around Earith Bridge, which seemed to make a big difference and reduced the level of flooding across the flood plains around Holywell. Which is why I wonder whether the dredging in Great Yarmouth might have an effect on the current issues on the Broads.

No surprise there then.  Same thing happened in the south downs, massive flooding a couple of years ago, the locals were in uproar as for years they had been asking the EA to dredge the dykes / rivers back to what they used to be as they had badly silted up - The EA claimed this was not the cause of the flooding.  However they came under such huge pressure that they did eventually do a far amount of dredging.

Can you believe that since then there has been no repeat of the major flooding despite record rainfalls for some months. Well now. are we we that surprised? - Not

The locals knew what they were on about despite the educated computer models of what the EA were stating

Sound Familiar ?

Griff

[Islander]

12 hours ago, Wussername said:

They said they had dredged 26,000 cubic metres of sediment from the Bure, which the Ant, feeds into, between 2016 and 2019.

 

I wonder what this equates to. My guess about 1Km a year!

Colin

[grendel]

it does sound a bit like, how can we make the few hundred metres of dredging we have done sound more impressive - I know lets just say how much spoil we took out, thats by far a bigger number. yes 26,000 cu m would be dredging a 1m depth 26m wide for 1000m, and half that volume was probably water.