fortune Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 Do we think that there might be a hosepipe ban this summer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splashy Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 In the Somerset Levels ... yes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Sarakun Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 Well, out here in the Fens, my feet are still dry and this is a Flood Plain. But then channels were cut, drains were dug, reservoirs built and a few years ago too. So why can this not be done in Somerset? Dredging would most likely not be enough, so why not cut a drain, like our Bedford Forty Foot, to name just one. Why, with all the equipment and top engineers at their disposal, are the Army not getting on with that now? The residents on the Levels have all my sympathy, and I feel those floods could have been averted, a known flood area and nothing serious has been done to stop serious flooding, it beggars belief. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kes Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 The pumping facilities in the Somerset levels were built in 1941 so perhaps my comment about additional investment is justified. I think the point here is, although disputed by many, that yes Somerset floods and the residents accept that but it should be controllable to avoid massive damage. Lack of investment over the years and an unjustifiably environment centred policy has removed a factor of safety and that needs reinstating but extended to take account of the change in the weather due to global; warming. There will come a day when perhaps the levels cant be kept reasonably flood free but to accept that now is, IMHO dismal neglect and pathetic and unwarranted defeatism. My last post - no point in i'm right, no i'm right posts unless they add some NEW info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welsh1 Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 The cost of a series of dams and levies to prevent this flood plain from flooding maybe one or twice in a lifetime could not be justified given the head of population in the area and the country being virtually bankrupt. It is a tragedy for those whose homes have been flooded,but it is a flood plain, and this is extraordinary weather we are having. Even if this country could scrape the money together and build defences,you only have to look a the Netherlands who are now realising that they have been in a sort of arms race with the sea as they have had to build ever higher levies and dams and bigger and faster pumping stations,the Dutch have now decided they have to sacrifice some of the land and have moved people from houses and sacrificed the land as flood plain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catweazle Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 How many times does it have to happen before the area is abandoned ? This could be what UK winters are like from now on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmytree Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 For those who don't really know the history or the topography of the Levels it's easy to say "let it go, it's only 40 houses." The Levels were drained by the monasteries to make best use of land which was basically bog and swamp. The two main rivers, Parrett and Tone drain a huge area and have always had to be maintained to keep the capacity of the rivers high. The Tone flows into the Parrett just above Burrowbridge, the major problem is at the bridge just below the confluence where the river has become so narrow it has formed a bottleneck. Water has been forced onto a huge section of the moor which is allowed to flood regularly but has breached the old defences and now flooded areas that haven't had a serious problem for generations. Pumping the moor is the usual method but all the water has to be pumped into the river which has only 40% of the capacity of 20 years. The bed of the river at Moorland is now 10 ft higher than it should be because of lack of dredging. It's not just the villages and 40 houses though, the backing up effect has caused problems in Taunton and the surrounding district, Bridgwater is seriously at risk, the rail line was cut off yesterday, the potential for even worse damage is there, all because of a lack of dredging. The EA was quite happy to spend £31 million on the bird sanctuary but not £5 million on dredging. Don't forget this is now the 3rd time in 16 months that some areas have gone under, Lord Smith stood on Burrow mump last winter and promised that dredging would start within 4 months but NOTHING has been done. Ok it will cost money but I would rather my taxes went on that than helping India to send rockets into space or fighting ridiculous wars in fly blown dungheaps on the other side of the world. Friends of mine have been flooded out, their house has never flooded before, they and many others are bitterly angry. This flooding may be caused by excessive rain but it's the result of years of pennypinching by the EA, an organisation that has as much understanding of the problems a I do of quantum physics. Dredging means the rivers have the capacity for the pumps to drain the moors, hopefully the intervention of David Cameron will mean the idiots from the EA get bypassed and something will get done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark@mbb Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 Would it not be cheaper to buy the properties of the People and return the area to flood plain and learn From this for the future Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanj Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 I think I agree with you Mike. Buy a house on the levels and you have to expect it to a certain extent. yes but its always somebody elses fault isnt it ............ remember, where theres blame theres a claim ! heard on radio the other day EVERY insurance premium is going to carry a levy of £10 odd to ensure flood insurance remains affordable for all............ have deleted the comment I was going to make about that !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmytree Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 Would it not be cheaper to buy the properties of the People and return the area to flood plain and learn From this for the future If it was just that small section maybe but the levels are a big area, if that was allowed to revert to the wild it would become a wasteland of bog like parts of the nature reserve that are next to useless for anything to live on. As I said in a previous post there is now a greater risk to major population centres like Bridgwater and Taunton, more outlying villages would become islands for the winter months. A section of the M5 would go under as would the main rail link to the South West. A complete ecosystem would be wiped out in favour of what? Saving money to spend on overseas aid? What would the cost be for buying people off? Lets say £200,000 per house and £4,000 per acre and the costs would be many times more than a programme of dredging for the next 50 years. We are talking 100s of square miles at risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortune Posted February 8, 2014 Report Share Posted February 8, 2014 It’s not just in Somerset. Took these pics today nearby in Kent. This is the main river channel and is about 20 feet deep in the river. The fields either side are probably in the region of 6 feet deep. The width of this flood is somewhere between 1 > 1-1/2 miles wide. The flow is the whole river and it was going out pretty quickly. That’s a lot of water. Mostly the defences hold most of the water back off of the fields but most years if floods a bit This light is used to illuminate a pair of Archimedes screw pumps that are down under there. When the level of the river drops they will start to lower the level of the field dikes that are about 20 foot deep to the bottom of the water here. If the water hasn’t got into them. If there were houses and farms in this valley there would be the same outcry as down in somerset but its just fields Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norfolk dumpling Posted February 9, 2014 Report Share Posted February 9, 2014 Dreadful though this flooding is I sense from all the info and stats I've seen this is just very severe weather BUT we are in the lead-in to a General Ellection and thus the action or inactions are exaggerated by the media out of all proportion. Oh that all the time and effort spent on slagging off Goverment, EA, farmers etc etc should be directed into helping the poor ******* affected. We could have almost solved the problem by now!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
four-wheel-drive Posted February 9, 2014 Report Share Posted February 9, 2014 Someone was talking on the radio and said that a few years ago the woman who was in charge of the envirenment department was talking about letting the wetlands flood as it was good for the wildlife and birds and after all we are a well off country we do not need to grow our own food we can buy it in from from other countries I think that this sums up the attitude of a lot of the people in power they care more about looking after wildlife than caring for the people who pay there wages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmytree Posted February 9, 2014 Report Share Posted February 9, 2014 After bull**** from pathetic Patterson and nothing from the arrogant twerp Lord Smith, Eric Pickles has offered an unreserved apology for the cessation of dredging and the current mess we're in. He's admitted that the Government should not have listened to the so called "experts" at the EA who have now been exposed as knowing absolutely zilch about how this area and how the river systems work. Add in the visit by Nigel Farage who is calling for financial help to come from the Overseas Aid budget and applications for EU funding. He'll get my vote at the next election. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
four-wheel-drive Posted February 9, 2014 Report Share Posted February 9, 2014 (edited) After ******** from pathetic Patterson and nothing from the arrogant twerp Lord Smith, Eric Pickles has offered an unreserved apology for the cessation of dredging and the current mess we're in. He's admitted that the Government should not have listened to the so called "experts" at the EA who have now been exposed as knowing absolutely zilch about how this area and how the river systems work. Add in the visit by Nigel Farage who is calling for financial help to come from the Overseas Aid budget and applications for EU funding. He'll get my vote at the next election. I saw Eric Pickles on the TV this morning and it was a breath of fresh air to hear someone talking common sense for a change the only problem is how long is it going to take to put rite the damage caused by Labour and there bird loving friends and what if Labour get in next time will all of the good work go out of the window . ( I will be voting UKIP next time like many others on here but I do worry that it could let Labour in ) Edited February 9, 2014 by four-wheel-drive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matone Posted February 9, 2014 Report Share Posted February 9, 2014 Don`t know much about Mr Pickles,he does seem to have a grip on reality though ! If only the rest of the government were similar and actually took on the clowns at the EA and Natural England et all . They are a total waste of resources in this cash strapped island of ours ! (It is ours,not theirs afterall, alledgedly.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Croc Posted February 9, 2014 Report Share Posted February 9, 2014 It’s not just in Somerset. Took these pics today nearby in Kent. This is the main river channel and is about 20 feet deep in the river. The fields either side are probably in the region of 6 feet deep. The width of this flood is somewhere between 1 > 1-1/2 miles wide. The flow is the whole river and it was going out pretty quickly. That’s a lot of water. Mostly the defences hold most of the water back off of the fields but most years if floods a bit This light is used to illuminate a pair of Archimedes screw pumps that are down under there. When the level of the river drops they will start to lower the level of the field dikes that are about 20 foot deep to the bottom of the water here. If the water hasn’t got into them. If there were houses and farms in this valley there would be the same outcry as down in somerset but its just fields Fortune Where about's is this in Kent ? Medway area, or further East, Canterbury, Elham Valley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amateur Posted February 9, 2014 Report Share Posted February 9, 2014 Don`t know much about Mr Pickles,he does seem to have a grip on reality though ! If only the rest of the government were similar and actually took on the clowns at the EA and Natural England et all . They are a total waste of resources in this cash strapped island of ours ! (It is ours,not theirs afterall, alledgedly.) An authentic Yorkshireman - say no more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scolopax Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 I was thinking in this case Mr Pickles has no grip on reality! All the goverments fault, after all they fund the Met office and they are the ones who make it rain so much, don't they ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikk Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 Someone was talking on the radio and said that a few years ago the woman who was in charge of the envirenment department was talking about letting the wetlands flood as it was good for the wildlife and birds and after all we are a well off country we do not need to grow our own food we can buy it in from from other countries I think that this sums up the attitude of a lot of the people in power they care more about looking after wildlife than caring for the people who pay there wages. Google Baroness Young and the pumping stations, left wing nutter who was behind the dismantling of flood defenses etc. They thought if they allowed the floods to flow naturally it would sort itself out, Norfolk apparently was the only County that fought a legal action and retained it's rights to maintain it's own water ways. Now about these birds and wildlife... I wonder how much of it is still alive now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 Having watched country file last night I think it would be safe to assume a lot more flooding in low lying areas around the country, I suspect the real money will go to protect the cities, there is already talk of a second Thames barrier. I also noticed how shady the spokesman for the EA seemed he would make a great politician Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDog Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 Yes Baroness Barbara Young, ex RSPB then straight into the Environment Agency. Is there any wonder that the aims of the RSPB became Government policy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxie Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 Pickles is talking absolute rubbish.He`s blaming the EA to divert attention from the governments cuts to the flood defence budget.The Institute of Water Engineers statement on the Somerset Levels is spot on.The EA`s brief from Government present and past has been to protect areas of population first and rural areas second,which is what they have done.With a limited budget something had to give,this is a case of spending cuts coming home to roost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev56 Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 Well the Thames down my way has just gone on to major alert, my outlaws are being evacuated at this minute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old rooster Posted February 10, 2014 Report Share Posted February 10, 2014 Come back Noah, all is forgiven!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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