SRA Annual Report 2018-19: Workstream 1 – Dredging and River Management (W1)
2018-19 Summary
Work on major projects has included the biggest-yet water injection dredge along the River Parrett, de-silting at Parchey and Dunball on King’s Sedgemoor Drain, repairs and improvements at North Drain Pumping Station in the River Brue catchment, and support for the Bridgwater Tidal Barrier and improvements around Taunton.
Work on smaller projects has included repairs to the river banks in Frome town centre and along the River Avill Flood Relief Channel at Dunster, extra maintenance activities on West Sedgemoor, Aller Moor and around Sedgemoor, designs for improvements at Westonzoyland and West Sedgemoor Pumping Stations, and investigations at Moorland and Chadmead.
Somerset Rivers Authority spends more on dredging and river management than it does on any other workstream. Schemes are designed and delivered for the SRA by a range of partners and contractors. Money comes from either council tax or the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership’s Growth Deal Fund – or sometimes both.
There are three main strands to W1. They are:
- major SRA projects
- major projects led by other bodies and backed by the SRA
- projects in the SRA’s annual Enhanced Programmes
Water injection dredging and silt monitoring are outstanding examples of innovation in this workstream. Extra maintenance, repairs and improvements figure strongly across the county, and a revealing investigation has been carried out in the village of Moorland.