Levelling Somerset

If you live where I do, it's currently hard to avoid local and national media stories about the recurrent flooding of the Somerset Levels, and the hardships of entire villages now marooned in the floods for weeks.  The Army was called in last week – only to be sent away again by the civil powers who think they can cope, although this is far from obvious on the ground (actually – on the water).

There are two issues: [1] dealing with the distress of the current floods; and [2] trying to ensure that these stop happening.  Given that much of the Levels are below sea level, some degree of flooding is "natural", we're assured, and (agri)cultural practice over centuries has set about accommodating and living with such phenomena – as communities also have to do in the Fens and elsewhere.

However, there is nothing particularly "natural" about the causes of the current difficulties, and the Levels, particularly West Sedgemoor, have seen controversy for many years now over agricultural and conservation practice.  I remember one of my student teachers being in the Levels in the 1980s when the Head of the National Conservancy Council was burnt in effigy because of his policy decisions in relation to land "improvements".  Teaching about conservation in those circumstances was tricky.

I was reminded of this by Sue Everett's recent excellent blogpost which is well worth a read for anyone seeking details of background and complexity.  She begins ...

Britain is once again under deluge. Prolonged bouts of heavy rain over the past couple of months mean the ground is waterlogged and low-lying land flooded.  Across much of the country, more water is reaches the floodplain more quickly because of land drainage in the catchment to enable more intensive farming. This has effectively removed the capacity of semi-natural vegetation (much of which has been removed or significantly reduced), such as associated with deep-rooted broad leaved herbs in pastures, wetlands, hedgerows and trees, to hold water back. Along with these land use changes, modern farming continues to cause vast quantities of soil erosion from fields and into watercourses. Even now, during heavy rain, slurry from dairy farms is also washing off fields – and this is another source of nutrient-rich silt entering rivers. This situation means many West Country rivers are now in a dire state and are failing to meet quality objectives for nitrogen, phosphate and fish. Watercourse maintenance is a vital tool in the box for reducing flood risk but it is overly simplistic, as many have suggested, to claim that all the problems being experienced now in the Somerset Levels and other flood-prone areas are due to a lack of river dredging. Moreover, in the past, over-deepening and over-widening rivers to facilitate drainage off low grade farmland and thus intensify farming practices have exacerbated flooding downstream. Some blame therefore lies with the former Internal Drainage Boards, the farming industry, National Rivers Authority (and predecessors) for colluding to create this situation that cost taxpayers dear, for the sole purpose of enabling landowners to reap agricultural subsidies for creating arable land, reseeding pastures and destroying flower rich meadows and other semi-natural vegetation – often in or adjacent to floodplains. The Somerset Levels is an area where this happened big time …

For further insights, see:

Paul Wilkinson, with the Wildlife Trusts' five action points for government.

Martin Harper (RSPB) on land management and the CAP, and

George Monbiot on dodgy dredging.

More on all this, anon, inevitably.