More rain before december 31st and this will be the wettest year ever. I predict a hosepipe ban in the East by April and the water companies telling us the Aquifers are empty and the reservoirs are only a third full by late may.
I dont think even they would try that one again in the near future Zigs. But I bet two weeks of dry weather, next summer, and the gardeners will be wanting a shower. If they do you might need to restrain me.
Anyone 'in authority' thought about dredging out the reservoirs to increase capacity and dredging out the riverbeds to increase volume and flowrate? Too easy aint it? Cheers, Tony.
Too costly ,more like it , Tony . It all comes down to cost in the end. Where is the wettest year rain gauge measured ? Is it on the met office roof ? Is GC HQ prepared for wet years - do we have an underwater gardening section in preparation
I agree Harry, dredging a reservoir could damage the bottom and create leaks doing more harm than good. The Rutland Water is just flooded farmland land and a natural clay substrata, others are artificial and would not react well to scraping of the bottom.
There's a good reason why we are going through this cycle of drought and flood in Britain, and I don't think its anything to do with climate change (I'm not denying climate change, I just don't think any change is currently enough to give us the consequences we're seeing). The population of Britain is growing, and our infrastructure isn't. Not only that, but individuals are demanding more from our ageing infrastructure. When I was a kid, there was the concept of 'bath night'. As the name suggests, we only had a tub once per week. Now every night is bath night. Our growing population and changing attitude combines to place great stress in the infrastructure. In times of drought, too many people are placing too much demand on water supply. So what about times like we've had this year with too much rain, and flooding? Well, the drainage network didn't expand at the same rate as urban sprawl. Concrete and tarmac are impervious to water, but the water is going to go somewhere, so it overwhelms the drains, whereas at one time much of it would have soaked away into people's front gardens that are now block paved drives, or the field out the back that is now the new estate of shoe box houses. People wont change overnight. Its unrealistic to expect people en-masse to dig up their new driveways, or think more about what happens to water after its gone down the plug hole. It is also unrealistic to think the government or private companies are going to spend billions and billions upgrading our infrastructure. I don't think there's a single answer, but I am certain that centralising the problem is not going to help. The solution to water shortages is not a new reservoir, because after a few years, that wouldn't be enough. The solution to floods is not to invest billions in widening drains, because again that would only solve the problem short term. The solution has to be cost effective, simple, and sustainable. On the beautiful island of Minorca, the houses (even the old ones) each have underground water tanks. They catch and store rain. In that part of the world, they get much less rain than we do in terms of the number of hours per year that it rains, but when it does rain, it rains so hard that it is a problem. The island, being a small island, has trouble with fresh water supply. The Spanish folks realised ages ago that they could solve both problems without losing any land or needing expensive infrastructure. Water storage tanks under the houses means the drains in the streets are not overwhelmed as soon as it rains, and it also means that they have water during their long dry spells. Its simple, and it works for them (granted they have to ship fresh water in to, but that's largely because of the influx and demands of tourism). Why can't we do the same? All those new shoe box housing estates that appear practically overnight could feature such a system. The government could set up a grant scheme for the installation of water butts and filtration systems on existing properties, funded by a penalty system for not installing such a thing on new builds, and from fines from water companies for their endless failings. Nothing is going to prevent floods or droughts if the weather is really, really unusual, but my system could reduce the severity of such problems, and even eliminate the problems in years that are only slightly unusual.
we still have to maintain things to keep it all running have you seen people out cleaning drains, ditches and rivers in your area to prevent any more flooding
