A NEW consultation with West Somerset residents is being carried out by the Environment Agency after it said it would stop regular maintenance works on a number of local rivers due to a funding shortage.
The decision to halt the work from January was taken last summer when the agency discovered the Government was providing only 60 per cent of its requested funding.
Local watercourses affected included the Washford River, Traphole Stream, the River Avill, and The Doniford Stream.
Now, the agency is writing to riparian owners and residents – those who have rivers running through or next to their property – asking if they have any evidence of issues which would justify it receiving more money from Government.
It is asking for up to 300 words explaining why continued maintenance of a watercourse was important to the resident or their community and details of any known legal requirements and any instances of property flooding.
A spokesperson said: “We recognise the notice of withdrawal of maintenance has caused uncertainty for some residents.
“Following the initial correspondence and discussions with communities and partners, we are undertaking a consultation to allow partner organisations and riparian owners the opportunity to share supporting information that may add to the evidence we have about flood risk and environmental value in their location.
A river clean up being undertaken by Environment Agency staff. (EA)
“We will seek to use new information provided in the consultation, highlighting flood risk and/or environmental benefits to strengthen the case for prioritising this work.
“This could help us in securing future allocations for watercourse maintenance funding.
“On watercourses designated as statutory main rivers, we sometimes carry out maintenance work, such as weed cutting and grass mowing, by exercising our permissive powers.
“These powers are discretionary, and we have no legal duty to undertake this work.
“Funding for watercourse maintenance is allocated nationally according to flood risk and environmental benefit to ensure work achieves maximum benefit.
“Due to rising operational costs, we are no longer able to undertake vegetation maintenance on low-risk watercourses, such as areas where only agricultural land is at risk, or where flood risk to property is low.
“The affected locations remain classified as statutory main rivers, meaning that we are still able to use our permissive powers to undertake maintenance in future, subject to funding.
“We will continue to undertake an extensive programme of vegetation maintenance on high-risk watercourses, respond to incidents like channel blockages, provide a flood warning service, maintain and repair flood defences, and undertake work where we have a legal duty to do so.”
The spokesperson said responses should be returned by April 30 using an online form or by post to its Bridgwater offices.
The consultation findings would be shared during the summer.
The spokesperson said: “In the meantime, we are continuing to deliver an extensive programme of watercourse maintenance on the larger watercourses.
“This includes delivering over £11 million of routine flood defence work annually, including maintaining and operating water level control structures, tidal gates and pumping stations, repairing and replacing existing flood defences, providing flood warning services, and responding to incidents.”
