Enlarged rivers to safeguard Somerset Levels

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.

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Team effort to reduce flooding on A39 in Carhampton

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.

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Somerset Rivers Authority community engagement officer Emma Giffard with a group from Somerset Wildlife Trust in a room with handwritten notes and sheets of paper on the walls.

New app helps Somerset Levels plan for climate change

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.

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A tracked excavator deposits soil in a front-loading dumper in a field near Montacute House in Somerset.

SRA partners work to reduce Somerset flood risks

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

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New hedge planted at Horner Farm in Porlock on on bright winter morning with dog in foregound.

12 ways for Somerset farmers to win grants

Farmers are being invited to bid in Somerset’s biggest ever auction for works to reduce flooding, boost agriculture and improve the environment. The auction will run online from Monday 1 March to Monday 15 March. Grants for up to 12 different measures are available, from a total funding pot of £60,000.

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Observers from the Environment Agency and Parrett Internal Drainage Board, on board Van Oord's water injection dredging vessel Borr, see water being jetted out from Borr's water injection bars, raised for demonstration purposes above the surface of the River Parrett near Moorland.

New dredging to cut flood risks on Somerset Levels

A new section of the River Parrett is to be dredged for Somerset Rivers Authority, to reduce flood risks to local people, properties, roads and land. Large quantities of silt will be removed from 1.37miles (2.2km) of the river between Moorland and the M5, to increase its capacity to carry flood water.

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Looking out from the bottom of a steep slope at Huckham in the Polden Hills across Butleigh Moor and the Somerset Levels.

Free trees to help Somerset reduce flood risks

14,000 trees are being offered to Somerset landowners and parish councils this winter, as part of a new project called Trees for Water. The initiative is being led by Somerset environmental group Reimagining the Levels, in partnership with Somerset Rivers Authority, the Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group SouthWest and the Woodland Trust.

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Four men from contractors Bernard Perry fitting the railings of a new walkway on a Westmoor water level control structure for Somerset Rivers Authority.

Flood works on Somerset Levels boost 100 water control features

Three projects to reduce local flood risks and improve the environment have been carried out for Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA) on the Somerset Levels. The works at Egypt’s Clyse on Othery Rhyne and on the Moorlinch and Westmoor Raised Water Level Areas are part of the SRA's overarching plan to enhance the River Sowy-King’s Sedgemoor Drain (KSD) system. Sowy-KSD works are being delivered for the SRA by the Environment Agency.

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