Tue Jan 05, 2016 3:26 pm
Dredging of rivers needs to be undertaken again and any public drains and ditches need sorting including in towns. Straightening or canalisation of key rivers might help as well as Thames type barriers. However private individuals are as much to blame - farmers for not maintaining their ditches or keeping those on public roads clear. The runoff from fields is a real problem. In parts of North Yorkshire I have seen farmers digging two deep tranches around their fields to stop run off. Hardstandings or otherwise and getting rid of all the soil and vegetation areas in gardens by Joe Public doesn't help. Nor does the clogging of town drainage systems by fat, nappies, condoms, sanitary towels and suchlike, all the stuff that should not go down the sewerage and waste water systems otherwise they get clogged up and water backs up in a deluge.
Another problem is the formation of a hardpan in dry summers where an impervious layer is created a few feet down below the surface. Once this forms the water does not percolate through to the aquifers or water tables and thus backs up and saturates the top layers and runs off when it hits the hardpan. If it could percolate through to a deeper level it would get rid of much water. This problem was once mainly confined to drylands but is now a phenomena over here. Aquifers and water tables feed reservoir systems as much as normal run off - we all know of the droughts declared in the recent past. I have a hardpan on or rather in my allotment - I created it by use of a rotavator. The blades turning as they do actually create a hardpan over a period of time as you only till to a certain depth. The same goes for ploughs on farmland. Every year or so a farmer should deep plough and they and gardeners etc should enrich soil with humus which is moisture absorbing. Gardeners need to double dig. None of this is rocket science, it is land husbandry and not farming! The old strip farming systems by their humped nature provided drainage between the strips.
You cannot blame the government or public organisations for everything or indeed big companies. At the end of the day householders need to invest and take precautions. I've seen some who have done it and there are things and devices available. The Dutch for e.g.do it but hey we can't expect the wonderful Brits to do that eh? Thinking ahead and planning and actually helping and protecting themselves for once! As for saying the efforts put in to current flood defences is inadequate, well yes it is but these current conditions are unprecedented?
ATB
Steve
Member since Autumn 2007
