This is an email from Ian to the EFRA Committee at the House of Commons. Please feel free to Leave a Reply below
From: Ian
Sent: 19 February 2024 11:54
To: EFRA Committee; SPENCER, Ben
Cc: robert.goodwill.mp@parliament.uk; ian.byrne.mp@parliament.uk; barry.gardiner.mp@parliament.uk; sheryll.murray.mp@parliament.uk; cat.smith.mp@parliament.uk; derek.thomas.mp@parliament.uk; steven.bonnar.mp@parliament.uk; rosie.duffield.mp@parliament.uk; neil.hudson.mp@parliament.uk; selaine.saxby.mp@parliament.uk; julian.sturdy.mp@parliament.uk
Subject: Re: EFRA Committee to hold evidence session on flooding
In June 2014, we met with the EA at Red kite House in Wallingford. Ian Tomes, David Murphy and Julia Simpson were present at that meeting, which we recorded.
The EA admitted that maintenance of the River Thames does not attract funding as it is not considered to be ‘sexy’. The EA, Ian Tomes then stated that they needed flooding to continue in order to secure the funding for the Lower Thames sections of the RTS. I shall be happy to release the recording of the meeting.
We suggested to the EA that they reinstate the maintenance and routine re-profiling of the Thames Riverbed. The Halcrow Hydrologists representing the EA at that same meeting, admitted maintaining the riverbed would improve the Thames discharge rate. They stated that they had before the meeting dusted-off a report called “Riverbed Re-Profiling and Weir Sill Lowering”. The EA agreed to share the report but never did.
Flooding has been accelerated and exacerbated as a consequence of the EA’s failure to maintain a single catchment across the Nation in over 35 years. Water courses have become subject to scour, deposition and silted. Any river which has a lock and a weir is Man Made and as such requires maintenance else it has a tendency to becomes wide, flood and create marshland.
A study being carried out by a University, in spite of its infancy has identified a disconnect between the main Thames Channel and the adjacent Ground Water perfusion, which it attributes to silting and a lack of maintenance.
The failure of the maintenance for the past 35 years has led to prolonged elevation of Ground Water Levels.
The 150 year old Sewerage System now remains bathed in elevated ground water levels, which flows into the sewerage system through the billions of fissures within the Victorian pipe work system.
Water Treatment Works are unable to process the billions of litres leaking back into the sewerage system and as a consequence routinely in the summer and winter discharge these billions of litres of ground water mixed with raw sewage into the watercourses.
What’s interesting here is that the Riverbed becomes contaminated and cannot be dredged, disturbed or removed. But then in flood, houses become flooded with a human faecal slurry.
The EA should be disbanded and Flood Mitigation Strategy outsourced to the Dutch.
Ian