Sometset Levels Case Study

Question 1

When we’re the Somerset floods

Answer 1

December 2013 to February 2014

Question 2

What were the causes?

Answer 2

Low pressure systems coming across the Atlantic (weeks of rain)
Saturated soil
Wettest January on record
High tides/storm surges up Bristol Channel
Reduced river capacity due to a lack of dredging for 20 years

Question 3

Who was blamed for the lack of dredging

Answer 3

The environmental agency

Question 4

What were the social effects?

Answer 4

600 flooded homes
16 evacuated farms
Temporary accommodation for months
Villages cut off
Disrupted power supplies

Question 5

What were the economic impacts

Answer 5

14000 hectares of flooded agricultural land
1000+livestock evacuated
Roads cut off
Closed railways
Estimated 10 million pounds of damage

Question 6

What were the environmental impact

Answer 6

Contaminated river water
Debris deposited across land
Stagnant water has to be deoxygenated then pumped back into rivers

Question 7

What management strategies were put in place

Answer 7

Straightening and rising of river banks
Somerset county council 20 million action plan
Rivers tone and parrat dredged in march 2014
Roads raised
Flood defences for at risk communities
Pumping stations built
Plans for tidal barrage at bridge water ok track for 2024