Out now: Somerset Rivers Authority Annual Report 2020-21

The Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA) Annual Report 2020-21 covers dozens of activities funded by the SRA between the start of April 2020 and the end of March 2021. During that time, the SRA spent £3.344million on extra flood protection and resilience works across Somerset.

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.

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

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.

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.

Adapting to climate change on the Somerset Levels

A new report from Adapting the Levels shows people on the Somerset Levels wanting more action on climate change. Subjects covered include nature, farming, and Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS).