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An aerial view of part of a double rainbow over Thorney and Muchelney surrounded by flood water in 2014.

Get tickets for talks about the future of water in Somerset

The Future of Water in Somerset is the main theme for a thought-provoking and enjoyable evening of talks and questions on Tuesday 14 May at the Somerset Rural Life Museum in Glastonbury.

The event’s being organised by Somerset Rivers Authority with the South West Heritage Trust.

Booking will also get you access to a new show of photographs by the renowned Somerset-based photographer Matilda Temperley, reflecting on ten years since the devastating floods of 2013-14.

Light refreshments will be served.

Tickets are available through Eventbrite: Tickets for the Future of Water in Somerset on Tuesday 14 May 2024 | Eventbrite

Future of Water in Somerset talks

The Future of Water event follows a long period of exceptionally wet weather during which hundreds of properties have been flooded. Somerset’s problems with flooding (and, during hotter summers, drought) are expected to intensify because of climate change.

The event’s four main speakers between 7 and 9pm will be:

  • Councillor Mike Stanton, Chair of Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA)
  • Matt Wheeldon, Wessex Water director and SRA Board member
  • John Rowlands, SRA Technical Adviser (ex-Environment Agency)
  • Ben Thorne, former Senior Farm Environment Adviser and Team Leader with the Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group SouthWest and former long-serving leader of the SRA’s Land Management and Natural Flood Management workstream

Subjects covered will include some of the challenges faced in water level management, business and farming; changing practices; and new ideas and possibilities.

Under the Surface photographic exhibition

Entry to the Museum will be from 6.15pm so guests can also enjoy Matilda Temperley’s photographic exhibition called Under the Surface. This show is part-sponsored by Somerset Rivers Authority: it ends on Sunday 19 May.

It features photographs from Matilda Temperley’s sold-out publication Under the Surface: Somerset Floods, alongside previously unpublished colour photographs taken during the winter of 2013-14.

Also on display are newly commissioned photographs, reflecting on changes to the Somerset landscape over the past decade.

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