Somerset Rivers Authority Annual Report 2019-20 shows in great detail how nearly £2.8million was spent on a wide range of extra flood protection and resilience works across Somerset. A summary offers interesting countywide highlights.
Remains from the lost 16th century hamlet of Tappingweir were uncovered as part of dredging works carried out along the River Parrett. People there led humble lives in centuries gone by, with inferior pots from West and South Somerset.
Membranes have been fitted for Somerset Rivers Authority near 39 water control structures at Moorlinch and Westmoor on the Somerset Levels. The membranes will - temporarily - stop vegetation growing and deter water voles, so the structures can be improved later this summer.
Farmers across Somerset made well over 100 bids in the county’s biggest auction yet for works to help stop flooding. The auction ran online in the second half of March. Somerset Rivers Authority, the Environment Agency and the Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group SouthWest offered farmers a choice of up to seven different methods of natural flood management. Bids are now being checked.
A Wessex Water scheme to protect homes in Highbridge from some very unpleasant flooding is backed by Somerset Rivers Authority and Somerset County Council.
Three drop-in sessions about River Sowy and King's Sedgemoor Drain enhancements are being held on the 17th, 18th and 19th of February. The events at Westonzoyland, Othery and Aller will give you chance to learn and ask questions about major SRA works to reduce flood risks coming up in the second half of 2020.
People living in and around Wedmore and Langport are invited to take part in a major new Somerset climate change project called Adapting the Levels. Come to the Ridgway Hall in Langport between 10am and 2pm on Saturday 29 February. Children and young people are welcome to attend. A similar event in Wedmore at the start of February was a popular success.
Bridgwater Tidal Barrier plans have reached a major milestone and people and organisations now have until 13 February 2020 to comment. The Barrier has been designed to help protect at least 11,300 properties and 1,500 businesses from climate change and future flood risks.
Here are the results of a Somerset Rivers Authority flood risk consultation carried out in places that were badly affected by flooding in Somerset in 2013-14. Just under 400 people took part in the consultation, which covered a range of…
A jack-up barge is being used for investigations into the ground below the River Parrett near Express Park in Bridgwater. Results will influence the building of Bridgwater Tidal Barrier.