Second wettest year on record!

YES it has been a wet year. It is official. Not that we needed to be told! Who declaired a drought order?! So what can we do about it and what should we do about it. The Met Office say that we are due more extremes of weather due to global warming. This can mean more extreme wet and dry spells to come. There are lots of measures that I feel we as a nation could and should implement such as:

• Making sure that all new build properties have permeable or soakaway drained paving at the rear as well as the front. The recent SUDS (Sustanable Urban Drainage) initiative only currently covers the fronts of properties.
• On the continent many new build properties have to have living green roofs in order to slowly reduce run off. This could be introduced here which, once more people use this system, would quickly reduce the added costs.
• Not build on flood plains! - these are flood plains for a reason! Let them flood and not use them for building new homes and businesses on.
• Maybe come to terms with the fact that some low lying areas such as parts of the Somerset levels should be left to return to nature and not used for farming or households since they cannot be protected from flooding.
• A lot of our Water Authority drainage is what is called combined sewerage. This is when surface water and Foul water both run in the same pipework. Incentives could be given to households to have stormwater running into soakaways and not down the drains. You can currently get a small rebate for this from the water boards but it is not enough to make it worth while.

Closer to home we can implement our own measures such as:

• Plant some plants with drainage around them to lesson the damage caused by saturated/ flooded ground to their roots. This can be done by adding horticultural grit to the beds, adding land drains and raising the beds in mounds to lift them up. By incorporating organic matter and mulching the ground as well will help retain moisture when we have dry spells.
• Keep lawns aerated by spiking the ground to aid drainage and reduce compacted areas which form a hard crust on the surface or below ground.
• Reducing hard surfaces or making them permeable - We are rapidly paving over our green and pleasant land which exacerbates the flash flood scenario and reduces ground water storage in dry spells.
• Store the water now for when we need it - set up water butts and underground tanks ready for the dry spells.
• Invent a micro hydro generator to go into downpipes to save on electricity bills!

On a lighter note I am looking forward to the hotter dryer weather! Mind you I will believe it when I see it!