The river channel is not large enough to contain extreme floods, even after dredging. A presentation by the Agency, called To Dredge or Not to Dredge?, spells out the problems in terms that even ministers can understand. It reflects what his advisers in the Environment Agency have been trying to say for years, before being sat on by ministers wanting instant answers to complex problems and then – as the government still plans – being sacked in droves.

… also we need to do more to hold water back, way back in the hills.Ĭoming from the man who insisted in November that he would do what he could to help farmers keep the hills bare, this was an astonishing and welcome turnaround.

He went on to suggest something I never thought I would hear from his lips: Assailed by angry farmers demanding dredging in the Somerset levels, the environment secretary, Owen Paterson broke with protocol and said something sensible.ĭredging is often not the best long term or economic solution and increased dredging of rivers on the Somerset Levels would not have prevented the recent widespread flooding.

Never mind the evidence, we’ll do something eye-catching.įor a moment that rarest of beasts, common sense, poked a nose out of its burrow and sniffed the air.

Dredged up