How very sad to see great swathes of our beautiful countryside under water especially when it can’t be rocket science to solve the problem.
I know I tend to look at things in a very simplified way but surely if we dredge all the rivers this will increase the flow they can handle, although I believe the EU has stopped us doing this.
The argument I believe is that if you dredge the river banks you will endanger all the small animals who live in the river banks, conversely if you do nothing and the river floods the animals will die anyway, from the small animals point of view it’s a bit of a Catch 22 situation.
The other solution is so obvious to the vast majority of people but seems to have escaped the notice of local planning officers, stop building on flood plains! I’m forced to wonder who is stupid enough to buy a house built on a flood plain, perhaps it should be made law that developers have to declare when selling these houses that there is a severe danger your house will be under water during the winter period.
If I’m not mistaken when engineers build a dam they have to dig a new channel to divert the river whilst the building of the dam is in progress, perhaps we could use the same principal with rivers that flood by digging another channel and joining the two the flow rate surely must be doubled.
Let’s stop blaming global warming for the problem and instead start blaming the real culprit, the planners who are unwilling to take the appropriate action to solve the problem, as I said it’s not rocket science.
About The Diary of a Country Bumpkin
I am a retired actor, although to be honest I only retired because I wasn't getting any work due to losing my agent when I became a full time carer to my mother who had dementia. and the option of becoming an unemployed actor/waiter at my age was ludicrous, especially as my waiting skills are non-existent.
Having said I’m retired, I don’t think there really is such a thing as a retired actor for I am still available for work, I just don’t have an agent or any connections with regards to obtaining any worthwhile work.
I have over the years done student films when there is nothing else available, always low paid (if at all) the only incentive was always the promised copy of the finished film for your show reel which nine times out of ten always failed to materialise.
I spent many years looking after my aged mother and shortly after her death I was lucky enough to run into an ex-girlfriend of many years ago and our romance blossomed once again, resulting in us getting married in 2013.
My move to the countryside inspired me to write The Diary of a Country Bumpkin which tells of my continuing dilemmas in dealing with the rigors of the countryside from the unexpectedly large number of pollens, fungal moulds and hay products waiting to attack the unsuspecting townie.
I enjoy writing, see my play Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori on The Wireless Theatre Company, The Plays Wot I Wrote and The Battle of Barking Creek both available on Amazon.co.uk and am very fond of classic cars so my ideal occupation would be acting in a film I had written set in the 1930s/40s, we live in hopes.
I am delighted to say that since venturing to the countryside where space is not quite the premium it is in town, I have due to the availability of two double garages acquired more classic cars to form a small collection the pride of which are a 1947 Bentley Mk VI and a 2000 Bentley Arnage.
My various blogs and websites are continually evolving and I’m sure that by following the appropriate links you will find something which will edify or amuse.
I have written a number of different books all available on Amazon, so don't be shy should you feel the urge to purchase. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mr-Joe-Wells/e/B06XKWFQHT/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
The Diary of a Country Bumpkin 
Climate change is a real problem, but it’s not responsible for everything 🙂
A good point. People want to have a home “by a quiet stream” and for the most part the stream is quiet. But this is the risk people take. You’ve come up with some good ideas, though.
In Manitoba, the bottom quarter of the province, the best farmland, is on the flood plain of the Red River. In a flood year the view from an airplane is “water water everywhere.” No one can stop the snow in the Rocky Mountains from melting, but some planning has been done to forestall the frequent floods. Farmers have diked their yards and deep channels crisscross the region, like irrigation ditches, for the water to run off. To combat the major flooding the city of Winnipeg has built a diversion channel such as you describe, to collect the excess flow.
It’s not a simple fix but you’re right, the first step (you would have thought, using common sense!) would be to stop building on flood plains. Even without dredging you’d think better defences would be a given, especially in areas that are so often flooded when rain hits (like Tewkesbury). So, so sad to see a lot of people out of their homes and a lot of businesses literally underwater; so much costly damage, not to mention a few lives lost.
Caz xx