Dredge the Rivers ffs!!!!!!

[finetonive]

We need to go back to dredging rivers REGULARLY.

Those poor people.

This is an interesting article.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/03/rich-landowners-farmers-welfare-nfu-defra

We need to be talking to the Dutch. Over 50 years of building dams and flood barriers, they know what they are doing. Amsterdam is completely below sea level and can cope with much more rain than what we have experienced over the past few days.

"Most of the properties flooded on this occasion don't appear to be new properties built on flood plains, they are older properties"

Yes, that's kind of the point. Removing the flood plain means that the water it would otherwise have absorbed there has to travel elsewhere, thus making previously 'safe' areas considerably more at risk.

Most of the properties flooded on this occasion don't appear to be new properties built on flood plains, they are older properties

Some of the places are old, Todmordon, Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge - all in a steep valley, water used to run down the hills and collect in the river Calder.

Now there are streets half way up the hill so water runs down the street onto the old streets and can't go any further so is flooding the old houses.

The grass along side the river that wasn't used for much because it flooded has been built on, so the water doesn't make soggy grass and mud but runs off towards the high st.

Meanwhile the Calder itself is about to burst its banks.

we are seeing the reason why this country is actually full, housing wise - despite what Bob Geldof and his 'food comes from Waitrose' friends believe. Not because of lack of physical space but because this is what concreting over absorbent ground does.

we need to stop tarmacing and concreting, refurbish all our current housing stock (which would create lots more accommodation) and think very hard about where we build.

the Hebden Bridge website has a picture of a lake which is apparently a site earmarked for a new development. The town is notorious for flooding as it is, and the new builds also make the older houses more prone to flooding.

someone needs to engage brain.

The effected parts of West Lancashire and Preston are tidal or very close to to the high tide line. Water can't flow further downhill at high tide however deep the rider is dredged.

So dredging rivers upstream would have made those areas worse.

Building flood defences is only going to help those in the immediate vicinity. Anyone downstream is going to get a higher volume of water as it can't dissipate over the flood plains that now have defences.

It's the city centre further along from our new flood defences that would cause chaos if the clyde just gets funnelled along there and it flooded. It's weird still not seeing the sandbags all along the front where I live. So used to walking around them to get into the shops there.

There are more than 6,000 flood defences in place in Cornwall and Devon, plus each major town on the Severn. However the defences were built to a height of previous high floods. Very little is done to anticipate flooding due to global warming, which will hit the Isles off mainland Europe.

Amsterdam is building defences always against the flooding from the sea, which is a different matter from rainfall coming off the land.

Somerset is tidal influenced. This isn't the case in places like Devon and Cornwall, Lancashire Cumbria and Yorkshire. These are areas of high moorland. So it's a case of managing rainfall turning small tributaries into torrents. Mostly it's done at ground level.

Dredging isn't going to contain it permanently and needs constant updating.

I am intrigued about the dredging. The fens still dredge their dykes and drains and have maintained most of the flood plains. They do flood but mostly it is the non populated areas that end up underwater. This seems to be sensible flood management. The dykes and drains would not work so effectively if they weren't dredged, they are also known for fabulous coarse fishing. Looking at this you would think it would be a sensible option?

And yet other posters are saying destroyed ecosystems and increased flooding issues?

could some one explain this apparent at odds situation?
TIA

Average annual rainfall in Amsterdam 750mm, in Glasgow 1109mm. Scafell pike 2500mm.

So flooding in Netherlands not really comparable.

The Guardian article is interesting.

All the 'environmentally aware' campaigning for green energy and the result is fields of maize causing serious run off and contributing to flooding. Be careful what you wish for.

SSargassosoSea

There may not be a direct correlation between annual rain fall and the amount a place floods.

Much of the Netherlands is below sea level. The rainfall is going to have little effect on the flooding there

If we stop building, how do we solve the housing crisis? As someone upthread said, we may be a country full of green fields, but despite this we are massively overpopulated. We need trees to stop landslides and soak up water and green spaces to do the same. But we also need to house and feed a predicted 80 million people. This means building on flood planes and cutting down trees and not having any idle farmland. We have other problems related to massive food waste by supermarkets, but that does not mean we don't have to deal with those problems as well.

What is interesting is that under Labour, farmers who grew maize (corn) fields were impelled by law to underplant to reduce the fall off of rain.

The coalition government overturned this successfully. Now the backlash begins.

This is political as well.

They didn't dredge in Somerset, we had floods, they dredged again, the flood did not happen!

They need to dredge!

Can you give the predicted 80 million link? Because I think that's rubbish.

When I was born the population of the earth was 3.5 billion, now it's 7.2 billion.

The population of the Uk then was 54 million. Now it's 64 million. There is no comparison.

Labour started all the mass building that is contributing to this issue

OhYou The largest man-made reservoir/lake (Kielder) burst its banks last week .... It has a capacity of 200 billion litres

I cant find anything but newspaper articles, but the uk population by 2050 is predicted to be 78million (so admittedly not 80m) I haven't got the exact statistics but they are from Eurostat. The global population will peak at 11 billion, barring a massive global pandemic that kills millions upon millions, when you look at current birthrates and life expectancy.

Dredging does not help the issue.

You need to keep water out of the rivers for as long as possible - dredging a river has a pretty minimal effect on the volume it can take within its banks.

Another vote for less tarmac and more trees. In reality, we can do little to reduce the rising seas and climate change will seriously affect our country in the next 100 years. We are going to face some tough choices regarding population size, house building, relocating etc and building a few walls will make little difference. Sorry for the gloom.

There are plenty of empty homes. I'm not sure why, or where, but there are.

The Government should make those empty homes more attractive. Refurbish them. Clear some outdoor space for children to play. Give some incentives for local shops and finally, invest in the local schools. People will then want to live in them.

Plant more trees on uplands to slow down the run off

Stop building on floodplains

Stop ALL tarmac / brick paving of drives

Make ALL car parks permeable - supermarkets, sports centres, offices etc etc etc

but mainly
its climate change
it will only get worse if we do not take larger scale action

there is no snow in the north east US this winter (normally a foot or two by now)
there is no snow in the Californian mountains yet (normally over 10 feet)