Somerset: King's Sedgemoor Drain flood defences improvements could start soon

Improvements for The King's Sedgemoor Drain are set to start in the summer

Work to upgrade two sections of flood defences could begin this summer and may take up to a year to complete.

The River Sowy and the King's Sedgemoor Drain near Bridgwater in Somerset could see more silt removed from the rivers.

The Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA) and Environment Agency (EA) want water to flow off the moors more quickly and to widen the river banks.

Around £150,000 was earmarked for these improvements, which will reduce the amount of flooding.

A number of improvements are being made to the River Sowy and King's Sedgemoor Drain, which divert water from the River Parrett and the River Cary out into the Bristol Channel.

The SRA board announced the timings for the latest improvements at a meeting on 8 March, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Work to improve the Chedzoy tilting weir and the Back Ditch outfall, which both lie between Bridgwater and the Polden Hills are the next part of the project.

Huge pumps take water from drainage ditches and empty it into the River Parrett

Iain Sturdy, from the Somerset Drainage Board Consortium, said: "Our aim is to investigate the potential for a lower-cost solution and come up with a plan to present to the board later this year.

"If the project completion plan can be achieved, hopefully we can do the outfall structures in 2024 and the bank work in 2025."

The work will reduce the amount of agricultural land affected by flooding in this section of the Somerset Levels and Moors, and thereby reduce the amount of lost income for local farmers.

Tony Bradford, vice-chairman of the Parrett Internal Drainage Board, said it was important not to delay the upgrades any further beyond mid-2025, claiming that landowners were unhappy about the slow progress being made.

He said: "I'm terribly disappointed we can't do the bank work, but that's understandable - it is a bigger phase of work.

"They've been under flood water since October, and now they're threatening not to pay their drainage rates this year".

The EA originally intended for work to begin in September 2023 but it will now be completed by the end of 2024.