PRESS RELEASE
Yesterday the Flooding On The Levels Action Group (FLAG) issued a lengthy press release.
With parts of many towns and villages flooded across Somerset right now - affecting farmland and farms, business parks, homes, roads, schools, sports clubs and sports fields and many other venues - here's a slice of some of what FLAG had to say.
See what you make of it:
"During last week’s significant rainfall, pumping capacity at Northmoor Pumping Station was severely impacted due to planned electrical works being carried out by National Grid. As a result, the pumps were unable to operate during a critical period. Although further planned works were postponed, several vital days of pumping capacity were lost. This has had a clear and tangible impact on water levels across the Northmoor area.
In addition, local residents repeatedly requested that temporary pumps be deployed to support existing infrastructure. Delays in decision-making meant that the opportunity to safely install temporary pumps at Currymoor was missed. While installing pumps at this location would have been effective while water levels were falling, it is now unsafe to do so until levels reduce further.
Residents have also been told that Northmoor Pumping Station cannot operate due to a lack of capacity in the River Parrett. This explanation is misleading. Northmoor Pumping Station is capable of operating continuously when river conditions allow. While it is correct that pumping must be reduced or paused when river levels in the tidal River Parrett are too high to safely discharge water, this is dependent on actual river and tidal conditions at the time and is not limited solely to spring tides. Current conditions do not appear to justify the extent of the delays experienced.
We would like to place on record our sincere thanks to the Environment Agency and Internal Drainage Board staff working on the ground, who have been working tirelessly under difficult conditions to keep pumps operational. Our frustration is directed at decision-making higher up the command chain, where delays have left communities exposed.
We are also increasingly concerned about additional water entering the system from upstream development. In particular, the discharge from the new water treatment works in North Petherton appears to be contributing to increased flows into Northmoor via Park Brook. This requires urgent investigation to understand its impact during periods of high rainfall.
More broadly, the EA continues to rely on trigger levels based on the 2014 flood event. Since then, there has been significant development in areas such as Taunton and North Petherton. Many of these developments do not appear to provide adequate water storage, resulting in water reaching the Somerset Levels far more quickly than it did in 2014."
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That's just part of it, but certainly some interesting points being made there.
To see the full press release, click HERE and it'll take you to FLAG's facebook page, then scroll down to find it.
And feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section for this article back on Carry On Langport's facebook page.
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