In 2011 flood defence funding was cut by 8%

[tinfoilhat]

Isn't part of the problem on the Somerset Levels that the two main rivers are tidal so dredging and dumping the silt downstream will just lead to it being brought back in again.

 

You could continuously dredge but that would be like re-painting the Forth Road Bridge, never-ending and expensive.

 

I actually (shock horror) agree with something Owen Patterson said today about the need for a joined up plan to prevent overflows and hold water back in the hills.

 

This of course would require tree planting in upland areas but that would then upset various other vested interests.

 

At the end of the day Somerset Levels is reclaimed land, it's supposed to be under water but humans chose to live and farm there.

 

Exactly, this blanket "dredge the rivers and we'll be alright" is rubbish. Dredging can do alsorts of environmental damage if done wrong.