A piece written and performed by the Somerset poet Liv Torc for the United Nations' COP26 climate change conference held in Glasgow in November 2021. For this personal take on prospects for the Somerset Levels and Moors, organised through the international Hot Poets project, Liv worked with partners in Adapting the Levels, which is part-funded by Somerset Rivers Authority.
An updated version of the Environment Agency's guide to How the Somerset Moors work. It shows in detail how water is moved around the Moors when the River Parrett and the River Tone flood. Rivers, Moors, spillways, sluice gates and pumping stations interact in complex ways.
Up-to-date information about what's happening on roads in Carhampton this November 2021. Works to reduce flooding are being done for Somerset Rivers Authority by Somerset County Council's Highways department. The B3191 Blue Anchor road is currently closed.
SRA-funded works to reduce flooding on the A39 at Carhampton are ahead of schedule, so new road closure arrangements are being brought in. From Tuesday 19 October, on weekdays only, not Saturday and Sunday, the A39 at Carhampton will instead be closed from 6.30pm to 11.30pm. These evening works are expected to be completed by Thursday 28 October.
Two rivers are being made bigger this autumn to help reduce flood risks across 150 square miles of the Somerset Levels and Moors. The River Sowy-King’s Sedgemoor Drain Enhancements Scheme (Phase One) is being delivered for Somerset Rivers Authority by the Environment Agency. The scheme is being partly funded by Growth Deal money from the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership, as part of a wide-ranging programme of works spread over several years costing £7.2 million.
Works to reduce flooding on the main road serving West Somerset will be carried out from Monday 11 October. Somerset County Council's Highways department has teamed up with Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA) for a £350,000 scheme of major drainage improvements on the A39 at Carhampton Cross and the B3191 Eastbury Road. The extent of the work means road closures will be needed. Diversions will be in place from Williton and Dunster out across Exmoor. Every effort will be made to get the works done as quickly as possible.
Free training about how to prepare for emergencies and strengthen communities is being offered to Somerset residents this October. A dozen interactive online sessions are being run as part as Somerset's fourth annual Community Resilience event, organised by the Somerset Prepared partnership, which includes Somerset Rivers Authority.
Somerset Trails is a new FREE mobile app. It gives people active and interesting opportunities to explore the local impacts of climate change, and looks at ways that nature could help Somerset adapt to increased risks of flooding and drought.
Ways of adapting to climate change on the Somerset Levels can be explored with a new web-based app. The app is part of the Adapting the Levels project, which is backed by Somerset Rivers Authority. Its purpose is to help local people and organisations turn ideas into plans for action, particularly as regards flooding and drought.
Somerset Rivers Authority is to spend £3.44 million on 21 projects giving Somerset residents greater flood protection and resilience. Towns, villages and rural river catchments across Somerset will benefit from the SRA’s 2021-22 Enhanced Programme of works. All activities are designed to fulfil the objectives of Somerset’s 20 Year Flood Action Plan