Farmers worry as EA stops maintaining small rivers

James Winslade says he worries his land will flood once the EA stops maintaining all local waterways

Farmers say they worry the risk of flooding will increase after the Environment Agency (EA) announced it was stopping maintenance on smaller rivers and streams.

James Winslade, a farmer near Burrowbridge in Somerset, said maintenance was key to preventing flooding disasters like the one that hit his and many other people's land in 2014.

He said: "It's the whole of Somerset that needs to have the maintenance done. Maintenance is key. You cannot walk away from it."

The EA said it has to "prioritise what works can be delivered to minimise flood risk with the funding available".

A spokesperson added: "We have made the decision to reduce discretionary vegetation cutting on some specific sections of watercourses because the work we have been doing has been identified as having a low flood risk benefit."

Mr Winslade said it was a lack of maintenance that led to the 2014 flooding.

"The village had been evacuated. People with dementia, my father was one of them, they didn't come back for 11 months and didn't come back the same people," the farmer said.

"Some people didn't come back at all, they passed away while away.

"Not only that, the devastation to the wildlife. It took 10 years for the wildlife to recover properly," he added.

MP Sarah Dyke says farmers are not equipped to look after rivers

The MP for Glastonbury and Somerton, Sarah Dyke, said she was still working with constituents whose properties flooded 18 months ago, and they had not been able to return to their homes yet.

"The impact of flooding is absolutely awful on our residents across Somerset," Ms Dyke said.

"Farmers and landowners now have a draconian responsibility to maintain the rivers.

"People just don't have the equipment or knowledge to be able to maintain a river."

Calling for a reversal

The Somerset Drainage Boards Consortium said it was pressing the EA to reverse the decision.

In a statement it said: "Partners will now escalate this resolution to National Environment Agency leaders and Government, calling for urgent engagement to identify a fair, workable, and lasting solution."

The EA spokesperson added: "We will continue to manage the risk of flooding and maintain our assets, flood alleviation schemes and monitoring water courses to provide flood warning services."