Whose fault is the flooding?

[noseall]

It's all well and good rambling on about improving localised drainage, but it will do nothing to stop major floods.

Nor will using examples of whats happening in Somerset be of any use to major flooding elsewhere.

I know 'cause I read it.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

I have a new theory, I recon it is due to over fishing, as the population of humans grow, we tend to eat more and more fish, this causes ocan currents to stall as there are no more fish left to stir these currents, hence the seas get warmer and that causes large air turbulences which creates these weather patters.



(that was a joke ok)

 

[Micilin]

I have a new theory, I recon it is due to over fishing, as the population of humans grow, we tend to eat more and more fish, this causes ocan currents to stall as there are no more fish left to stir these currents, hence the seas get warmer and that causes large air turbulences which creates these weather patters.



(that was a joke ok)

Maybe with fewer fish in the sea drinking water, the levels will rise!

 

[empip]

A job for you here on a non existant 'Drainage Board':-

http://www.somersetdrainageboards.gov.uk/boards-membership/board-areas/

"I see no ships, only friggin hardships."

-0-

 

[EFLImpudence]

Maybe with fewer fish in the sea drinking water, the levels will rise!

Don't be silly; it's the sponges that keep the sea level down.

 

[Norcon]

...Dr Colin Clark is a research and consultant hydrologist who has over 60 published papers. He has been advisory editor to eight scientific journals and is in charge of Charldon Hill Research Station in Somerset, where the longest running measurements of evaporation in England are currently being made...

Dr C's take on the situation (he is qualified, and close to hand) worth a read - if interested. http://tinyurl.com/nphznmc

...It is the legal responsibility of land owners to maintain their ditches in good order. The enforcing authority ought to act accordingly...

Have ditches been infilled ? Possibly so.

...It is the legal responsibility of land owners to maintain their ditches in good order. The enforcing authority ought to act accordingly. ..

------------------------
From the land of the summer pastures. - 400 metres from R. Avon, but thankfully 40 metres above it ! Can witness a small flood plain in action nearby.
The Avon has a greater drop to the Severn estuary than the R. Parrot (the latter being tidal for 27 miles it is said) having a drop of 1 foot / mile

-0-

When a farmer maintains his ditches that only ensures the water reaches the rivers much quicker thus increasing flooding.

There is a reason why the water leaves his fields much quicker now than it did say only 50 years ago.

 

[Big Tone]

Can I just say: No one has mentioned something very important; unless I missed it.

These barriers at towns which prevent or save the the town just moves it, (loads of water), on to another town. Yes?

A bit like those old times where folk p1$$ ed and $ h1t in a river and those downstream drank and washed in upstream $ h1t.

Should I despond at the lack of British common sense? (Of course. It's what we do best).

 

[Whitespirit66]

I have a new theory, I recon it is due to over fishing, as the population of humans grow, we tend to eat more and more fish, this causes ocan currents to stall as there are no more fish left to stir these currents, hence the seas get warmer and that causes large air turbulences which creates these weather patters.



(that was a joke ok)

Mike, you're obviously not feeding your cats enough Tuna. This is partly the problem.

Mine was addicted to Tuna (tinned - brine not oil), but seems to be ignoring this in favour of the chicken livers I get from the butchers. Does he realise what devestation he's causing in certain parts of the country?

 

[Mikefromlondon]

My cats were not detered by the bad weather, in such a gusty wind 5 of them were out and enjoying themeselves into the early hours of the morning yesterday, while I was wondering what might next fly off in these real bad winds, but they don't seem to be scared at all, even in the rain and high winds they wanted to go out and have fun!

Personally I think the weather is playing up a little and hopefully it was one off a series of unsettling weather, most probably caused by that largest ever hurricane we saw last year brewing up in Atlantic and tore across America that must have disturbed the jet stream which gave us this unexpectedly rough weather.

 

[AronSearle]

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

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/26119937...especially for you this one ARon SE.

From what i have read, dredging will not prevent major flooding.

Oh dear oh dear, best you can do?

George moonbat, the eco warrior, and BBC link that doesn’t work, I've linked to science articles and the EA's own computer analysis that says dredging would help "significantly reduce" flooding.

And nobody is claiming dredging will prevent major flooding, if you keep answering the wrong question, you will come up with the wrong answer.

It is one part of "managing" flooding, as well as pump stations (which have also been allowed to fall apart), and land management (the EA had to bring in external experts because they had none of their own).

 

[JBR]

I occurs to me that, if dredging rivers is so ineffective, why did they do it for centuries?

 

[Whitling2k]

Wow - what a flame war! Shows the media are winning - short snappy psuedo-science loaded facts are far easier to digest than real science - and sell more papers/attract more web hits.

Four comments on points raised so far:

1. Dredging was actually done in most (not all) places to allow navigation and keep puddles out of fields. Not stop floods.

2. The dude that put the graphs up - they were for December. December was nothing impressive rainfall wise. It did saturate the catchments (in a normal winter way) so that Januarys record rainfall was enough to tip the balance. Esp. when combined with the multiple tidal surges (induced by the low pressures from the storms) and fully recharged groundwater. before I also get ripped to shreds here - each individual storm was nothing significantly amazing - just the sheer number of them.

3. Climate change - it is happening. I'm not going to speculate against the cause. It always has changed and always will. Politics are getting in the way of increasing our resilience.

4. Dredging in the levels would not reduce the depth of flooding by more than several cm. This is a great example of my opening line.

If you care to follow up the source of information posted by the media - they cleverly missed a very important part of the phrase off. Dredging will significantly decrease the duration of the flooding but not the severity


Check out the CIWEM's "floods and dredging - a reality check" report - published on their website. Dredging could make the floods last for significantly less time - but not significantly less severe.

Over and out!

 

[AronSearle]

1. Dredging was actually done in most (not all) places to allow navigation and keep puddles out of fields. Not stop floods.

Then please tell the EA that their computer models were wrong, and that dredging would not have made a difference. You should also tell all those drainage boards that they shouldn’t have dredged the rivers, oh wait, you can't because they were closed down and replaced by the EA.

2. The dude that put the graphs up - they were for December.

Yes, and there was more information in the link, but you didn’t read that did you?

record rainfall was enough to tip the balance.

"Yes, this January was wet, but it still only ranks as the sixteenth wettest month since records began in 1766."

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/02/16/Lefty-Lies-UK-Floods

3. Climate change - it is happening.

"Mat Collins - a professor in climate systems at the University of Exeter and co-ordinating lead author to the IPCC - said at the weekend that the recent storms were not caused by climate change but by the jet stream being stuck further south than usual.

He said: "There is no evidence that global warming can cause the jet stream to get stuck in the way it has this winter. If this is due to climate change, it is outside our knowledge." "

Climate change may be happening, but it has nothing to do with current events and is a nice way to shift blame.

Dredging in the levels would not reduce the depth of flooding by more than several cm. This is a great example of my opening line.

Source please.

Check out the CIWEM's "floods and dredging - a reality check" report - published on their website. Dredging could make the floods last for significantly less time - but not significantly less severe.

Over and out!

Yes, dredging is PART of the strategy for managing floods, as your own link says, you can keep your straw man argument that people claim dredging or lack of is the sole issue and to blame for all ills. All those other things that can be done, guess who also is responsible for them.....

 

[Whitling2k]

Nice. Cherry pick facts that backup your extremist views. Ooh ooh ooh don't forget picture of bridge. Solved!

Where did i say this flood was the impact of climate change? I didn't. We can't deny that global (thats the world - not your leftie conspiricy theorists back yards) trends are not static. And that investment and drive to cope with future change scenarios could be better. Doesn't matter if it's anthropogenic or not.

Muppet

Fact is that we've seen 200% plus of the long term average rainfall for the south east/west. Dredged or not, we would have seen some flooding.

Suppose you believe the EA/govt/defra etc used chem trails to make it rain?

 

[Dextraneous]

Can;t we just put up a few more windmills, power them from the national grid and use them to blow the clouds away