The Dredging Has Started
- Thread starter Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)
- Start date
Sounds like another Eco disaster to me 
B
binka
Guest
My guess is that the dredging will be hailed a success for a fair few years until the next freak year comes along and dumps the amounts of rainfall on them that they've experienced over the winter.
By then so much time will have elapsed that people will say the rivers had silted up again and more dredging is requiredmg:
By then so much time will have elapsed that people will say the rivers had silted up again and more dredging is required
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Sure we all tried it as kids - Could you dig your way through the Earth to Australia? - Science Museum
Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)
Senior Member
So, the dredging machines are going to get melted?
beerweasel
Well-known member
I can't fish rivers in the close season, shouldn't dredging have a close season ?
Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)
Senior Member
They dredging in the close season because anglers would be pretty annoyed if they dredged in the open season while they were trying to catch.
beerweasel
Well-known member
But what effect does churning up silt have on developing fish eggs?
Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)
Senior Member
Eggsactly!
Is there ever a good time to dredge a river?
Is there ever a good time to dredge a river?
cg74
Well-known member
It's a necessity to appease the voting populous of the affected area.
But most definitely a mistake environmentally.
---------- Post added at 15:16 ---------- Previous post was at 15:12 ----------
The fish would still feed 50-60yards up or downstream of where they're working and I'm sure if you asked them where they're planning on working that day, they'd tell you, so avoiding them ploughing through your swim.
I think its a big mistake and necessary. A big mistake because in the grander scheme of things it wont help much, and is necessary to make people think something is being done about it.
End of the day...if its going to rain a lot it will rain. and if its going to flood it will flood. The volume of mud removed via dredging will not even scratch the surface of the volume of water that will need to pass through.
Guess you guys are unfamiliar with the River Parrett - the stretches they are dredging are not fished, it's a horrible inaccessible muddy torrent usually! The upper reaches are fished, although not by many. Despite this I too am not convinced that it is going to make a huge difference, seeing the volume of water that was on the levels recently.
I watched the full report and felt sorry for the EA guy having to make all the excuses for, what is, a knee jerk reaction by the Government.
If I remember correctly they are not going to dredge the entire river, just sections, leaving equal sections untouched in-between.
I expect that next year they will go back and remove all the untouched section they left this time around.
The problem is obvious......
The fields are draining to quickly, the water is dragging off large quantities of soil with it, that soil then falls to the bottom of a slower flowing river (Parrett) and thus becomes 'silt'.
If the river flows fast because of pumping or extreme dredging the soil (sorry silt) would end up in Bridgewater Bay and eventually create mudbanks on the shoreline or silt beds in the sea.
The fact is the land is being depleted of all its topsoil and is gradually getting lower and lower below a sea level which is rising because of Global Warming.
Our Government is trying to fight a war against nature which is totally unwinable.
The money would be far better spent on relocating the populace of the Somerset Levels and allowing the whole area to return to whence it came...........a natural wetland.
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If I remember correctly they are not going to dredge the entire river, just sections, leaving equal sections untouched in-between.
I expect that next year they will go back and remove all the untouched section they left this time around.
The problem is obvious......
The fields are draining to quickly, the water is dragging off large quantities of soil with it, that soil then falls to the bottom of a slower flowing river (Parrett) and thus becomes 'silt'.
If the river flows fast because of pumping or extreme dredging the soil (sorry silt) would end up in Bridgewater Bay and eventually create mudbanks on the shoreline or silt beds in the sea.
The fact is the land is being depleted of all its topsoil and is gradually getting lower and lower below a sea level which is rising because of Global Warming.
Our Government is trying to fight a war against nature which is totally unwinable.
The money would be far better spent on relocating the populace of the Somerset Levels and allowing the whole area to return to whence it came...........a natural wetland.
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chub_on_the_block
Well-known member
That might also create a tourist interest good for the local economy as well because there are a surprising number of folks who like wetlands, birdwatching, fishing, natural history and the rest. Each region needs a wetland - the East has the Norfolk Broads, the SE has the Romney Marshes (although they could do with some wetland put back too) and the SW could have the Levels.
At the moment only the few hundred folk that actually live in the Levels will see the benefits, mostly those who have inherited land and property in the area rather than sought to live there.
no-one in particular
Well-known member
Hate to look like I am blowing my own trumpet-but, I said some time back it would disappear from the news, the press, politics and the forums in a few months. It has more or less. I also said the Government would be seen to be doing a bit of dredging just to appease the public and that looks the case as well.
Just think about all that was written and said when it was going on; all the theories about how to solve the problem and the blame game going on, all the political debate etc. Reams of arguments on this forum as well. All gone now until it happens again-What a waste of time !
Just think about all that was written and said when it was going on; all the theories about how to solve the problem and the blame game going on, all the political debate etc. Reams of arguments on this forum as well. All gone now until it happens again-What a waste of time !
cg74
Well-known member
Mark, it's worth bearing in mind; dredging never ceased!
Yes it is being used as a publicity stunt by David Cameron etc, but how much money will central government actually squander on this 'being seen to do the right thing' project, perhaps £1m or £2m - not much in real terms.
If dredging that river has a high likelihood of causing serious ecological damage, then really it's down to environmentalist in that area to get the work carried out in a sympathetic manner. But don't expect to hear about that through the national press.
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The bad one
Well-known member
As with all news Mark it's tomorrows chip paper. That's not to say it's not a discussion topic or shouldn't be a discussion topic whilst it happening. Humans in the absence of being able to individually change something talk about it....it's what we do and sets us apart from other lifeforms.
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If this dredging is going to allow the water to flow out so much quicke, I wonder how the river will cope with dry spells, surely it will cause the rivers to be on their bones very quickly or maybe even reduce them to a trickle.
Forgot to add that the EA guy said they intended to build a £20 million barrage in Bridgewater Bay as this was an essential requirement of the anti-flood measures being undertaken, but failed to mention the required upgrading of the pumping systems.
Bet if they offered £500k to each householder (to move out) they would grab it like a shot, but then why should we pay just because some idiots choose to live on a flood plain?
"Ours will be the Greenest Government ever". David Cameron.
Quite right Dave, go for a managed retreat and leave the stubborn 'stayers' to their chosen fate.
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Bet if they offered £500k to each householder (to move out) they would grab it like a shot, but then why should we pay just because some idiots choose to live on a flood plain?
"Ours will be the Greenest Government ever". David Cameron.
Quite right Dave, go for a managed retreat and leave the stubborn 'stayers' to their chosen fate.
.
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