Fishlake

Exfarmer

Member
Location
Bury St Edmunds
Gove being questioned on TV this morning about this said in response they are aiming to be a carbon neutral economy!
it is all well and good if global warming is causing this (I have my doubts ) but whatever we do, if the rest of the world carries on regardless ( it most likely will ) The rain is still going to keep coming!
Nero fiddling while Rome is burning comes to mind!
Never mind perhaps thry will find some boy to stick his finger in the dyke.
 

Mark Hatton

Staff Member
Media
Location
Yorkshire
Gove being questioned on TV this morning about this said in response they are aiming to be a carbon neutral economy!
it is all well and good if global warming is causing this (I have my doubts ) but whatever we do, if the rest of the world carries on regardless ( it most likely will ) The rain is still going to keep coming!
Nero fiddling while Rome is burning comes to mind!
Never mind perhaps thry will find some boy to stick his finger in the dyke.
He also quote something like £500 per household and £2000 per business would be given out.......Im sure that will cover all of the damages caused!
 

icanshootwell

Member
Location
Ross-on-wye
Horrid situation for anyone to find themselves in, couldn't imagine having to deal with the aftermath.

I do a lot of driving around Yorkshire and the Humber region on a weekly basis and don't see much in the way of maintenance of roadside ditches or for that matter much ditch cleaning in general.

I remember as a child, ditches being cleaned annually, by councils and farmers, is it a practice that has been forgotten or is it just down to cost, surely it would help if more ditches were cleaned more often?
That would be a good job for the dole brigade, cleaning out the ditches.
 

Grassman

Member
Location
Derbyshire
Horrid situation for anyone to find themselves in, couldn't imagine having to deal with the aftermath.

I do a lot of driving around Yorkshire and the Humber region on a weekly basis and don't see much in the way of maintenance of roadside ditches or for that matter much ditch cleaning in general.

I remember as a child, ditches being cleaned annually, by councils and farmers, is it a practice that has been forgotten or is it just down to cost, surely it would help if more ditches were cleaned more often?
I cant remember when the ditches round here were last dug out. Used to be every few years. Some now you wouldn't know it was a ditch. Full up and the edges flattened by all the traffic passing each other.
 

Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
Horrid situation for anyone to find themselves in, couldn't imagine having to deal with the aftermath.

I do a lot of driving around Yorkshire and the Humber region on a weekly basis and don't see much in the way of maintenance of roadside ditches or for that matter much ditch cleaning in general.

I remember as a child, ditches being cleaned annually, by councils and farmers, is it a practice that has been forgotten or is it just down to cost, surely it would help if more ditches were cleaned more often?
actually I think, not cleaning out small ditches, makes large scale flooding less likely, as the rain that falls is kept locally and is stopped from quickly getting to major rivers
 

Nearly

Member
Location
North of York
actually I think, not cleaning out small ditches, makes large scale flooding less likely, as the rain that falls is kept locally and is stopped from quickly getting to major rivers
That's the gospel according to the EA but if everthing is saturated it just runs off. Once a sponge is full, it's full. For a sponge to capture water it has to be allowed to drain out between major rain events.
None of the above will make a bit of difference in wettest late autumn in 50 years.
 

Gulli

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Somerset
Gove being questioned on TV this morning about this said in response they are aiming to be a carbon neutral economy!
it is all well and good if global warming is causing this (I have my doubts ) but whatever we do, if the rest of the world carries on regardless ( it most likely will ) The rain is still going to keep coming!
Nero fiddling while Rome is burning comes to mind!
Never mind perhaps thry will find some boy to stick his finger in the dyke.
The lad was barking up the wrong tree there :sneaky:
Increasing infiltration rates will help, as will not pouring concrete on all the green area...
 

Mark Hatton

Staff Member
Media
Location
Yorkshire
actually I think, not cleaning out small ditches, makes large scale flooding less likely, as the rain that falls is kept locally and is stopped from quickly getting to major rivers
I completely get your point, my post was merely an observation of seemingly lack of ditch maintenance, the thinking was that if land can freely drain into ditches, it doesn't become saturated, in the the event of a major weather event such as last week, there's a much larger area to hold the water, it then drains though the soil/Land drains into ditches.
 

Mark Hatton

Staff Member
Media
Location
Yorkshire
I cant remember when the ditches round here were last dug out. Used to be every few years. Some now you wouldn't know it was a ditch. Full up and the edges flattened by all the traffic passing each other.
Not just me then, its got to make a difference if they are maintained on a regular basis, how are the land drainage systems supposed to work if the outlets are blocked by the ditches being no longer ditches?
 
actually I think, not cleaning out small ditches, makes large scale flooding less likely, as the rain that falls is kept locally and is stopped from quickly getting to major rivers


Land that is drained well will absorb rainfall .. whereas sodden land will flood.

The RSPB caused flooding in Somerset some years ago by raising the Water Table during summer to host wading birds .. nobody gives a monkey's about wading birds, even the people that watch wading birds don't flood their homes to attract them.
 
Just been on our local bbc news reporting from Fishlake and the experts say that dredging would of made no difference to the flooding in Fishlake. However improving flood defences at Sheffield probably made things worse.


Rivers eventually change course, after all that's how deltas and oxbow lakes are formed.

If humans want rivers to stay within their existing flows then dredging is required.
 

Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
I completely get your point, my post was merely an observation of seemingly lack of ditch maintenance, the thinking was that if land can freely drain into ditches, it doesn't become saturated, in the the event of a major weather event such as last week, there's a much larger area to hold the water, it then drains though the soil/Land drains into ditches.
But I think further down, then the flow capacity needs to be improved to allow the water that gets there to get away quickly
 
But I think further down, then the flow capacity needs to be improved to allow the water that gets there to get away quickly


Not necessarily.

Tidal gates on river outlets. Pumping stations to pump water over the gate when shut. Dredging to ensure dikes drain when the tide is low.

Preemptive action based on prevailing conditions .. but that requires planning and will power.
 

digger64

Member
prioritise is drained well will absorb rainfall .. whereas sodden land will flood.

The RSPB caused flooding in Somerset some years ago by raising the Water Table during summer to host wading birds .. nobody gives a monkey's about wading birds, even the people that watch wading birds don't flood their homes to attract them.
It would be interesting to some of these people who prioritise wading birds go and discuss their ideas and policies with Fishlake parish council at an open meeting on TV
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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