Flood Management ??

[PGD]

So has anyone seen the Thames like it is today up a foot on last night, Harleyford is flooded and has boatone been washed down stream of Chertsy ? The river is worse than it was 2 years ago when I found my boat a foot above the pontoon it was moored to.

Is the EA doing enough about flood management? Or is it down to everybody to appreciate the importance of greenhouse gasses and climate change? More CO2 = hotter climate hence all the rain trying to cool the plant down.

What do folks think.


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[coliholic]

Personally I think the EA must be at fault for letting the rivers silt up as much as they have. I don't know the Thames but the Ouse is flooding very badly this year and has done so for the last four or five years too. We've noticed that there's very little of the river that's deeper than 2.5mteres with several miles of it at around the 1 metre mark and in fact this year we found some seriously shallow stretches of the Ouse that my echo sounder wouldn't register at less than 0.8m.

Talking last year to a retired river worker that I met, he said that "in the olden days" they always used to keep the river at 2.5 metres minimum depth, with most of it around 5-8metres. As he explained to me, think of it like a water pipe. Can you get the same amount of water through a 1/2 inch pipe as you can through a 1 inch pipe? Of course not. They both look full when there's little or no flow (like in the summer), but as soon as you get some heavy flow on the river, there's just not enough volume in the river to cope with the amount of water that your trying to get down it. Seemed logical to me. As he said,. most people don't think of the depth of the river as being important, but you can't get a quart in a pint pot.

I find it quite interesting to ask non boaty people how deep they think the Ouse is. Most of them guess at around 15-20 feet and are surprised to hear the true depth.

How have the depths of the Thames changed over the last few years?

 

[BrendanS]

As bad as two years ago? Didn't seem quite that bad.

I'll have to go take a look at my old marina (Bushnells at Wargrave) for a look see.

After the floods two years ago, there was an interesting little piece in the newsletter. He reckoned that the flood levels were the worse since (1942?) as the water level in their house had reached the third step on the stairs in the house for the first time since then.

If this years flood is higher, then it's the worst in many, many years

 

[PGD]

first of all, like the pic, your welcome any time

An interesting point, and oneI should realy have paid attention too, ie the depths, can't say I've noticed and problems.

The river 2 yrs ago flooded very badly then last yr it was fine and I was in praise of th EA. They've built a new flood water bypass for Cookham and Maidenhead and with the river as it is today there is flooding in the fields but not over the roads at Bolters Loack. Marlow and Longmore Scout Camp is well under, so they've looked after part of the river only. This bypass runs right through to Windsor and byond, but it's only done a liitle good, I'll chck Windsor again tomorrow, but on New yrs day it was about an inch from the top of the banks, bound to be over now. Harleyford has risen 4" since lunchtime:-(

As I've hinted I think they (the EA) are fire fighting and the bigger picture is far outside the reach of one organisation.

Its a complex problem that very few appreciate.

Peter

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[PGD]

HI, I'm only going on my experince up river a for the last couple of years, normally I can step onto the side of my boat from the pontoon, 2 yrs ago , as today the water line is around my knees !!!

The manager at what was MMS painted a mark on the dock last time it flloded - badly ie 2 yrs ago, today the water is 200 yrds past that and had gone through the car park and onto the hard standing, at this rate those boats will be floating by the weekend.

The car park behind the hedge by my boat is under a foot of water and thid is flowing nicely over the grasss and into the marina, my own river past my boat

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[byron]

<font color=blue>I have been keeping a record since I moved here 16/17 years ago. The river is without a shadow of a doubt about 18" higher than it has ever been here.
Incidentally when I ws a kid they didn't blame Global Warming for any freak weather, they blamed the H Bomb. </font color=blue>

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[Teddy]

I checked my boat at Penton Hook yesterday. The level is about 4ins higher than I found it 2yrs ago, and the lake at Thorpe Park is halfway across one lane of main road.
Yesterday the Chertsey levels were still rising, and the bridge had been closed,along with the 2 adjacent pubs.
Any theories why Chertsey should flood after so many years?
Could it not be that the Maidenhead flood "alleviation" scheme has moved an excess of water to a different area?
I think the residents of Chertsey might think about suing the EA for negligence.
Interesting?
In reply to the other comments about the depths of the R. Thames, yes, they are very shallow in a lot of places. I frequently have to drive on "tilt" to avoid pranging my duo-props. I suppose now the River will need to be dredged again in some places, otherwise we will be hitting the bottom like in 2001, such as below Mapledurham lock and below Abingdon Bridge, and others!

 

[boatone]

Just spoken to the Marina at Chertsey and level in marina is highest theyve ever seen. Not possible to access boats on main floating pontoon (mine!) except by boat and constant eye on perimeter moorings cos finger pontoons fixed at land end so floating up at severe angle. Also spoken to Thames lock where River Weye enters thames and normal 8 foot drop now only abot 1 foot so thames around seven feet above normal level ! Shepperton lock also only around 1 foot difference between above/below.

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[BrendanS]

Just been for a drive around Thames locally (Henley, Wargrave, Sonning, Reading) from high ground, you can see that the floods are over half a mile wide in places (maybe even more) and it's definitely getting worse.

In the last half hour, they closed the Wargrave to Henley Road, and Environment Agency have announced that they expect two further surges in the next 24 hours!

 

[Teddy]

Penton Hook still rising. Now across approach road to main entrance.
It does look strange seeing boats up at road level.

 

[PGD]

Hi, been doing the same over the last few days, cookham is cut off can't drive in or out. Harleyford the water is still rising and the Longridge scout camp is well under saw the road below the 404 and you can just the tops of the fence posts only - river must be about 1m higher over the road.

Interseting point about the flood diversion scheme - looks like Chertsey got all the water - now they'll need one.

Peter

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[PGD]

hi ya, taken some nice shots today of the floods inthe sunshire, I'll ping you some over in due course - royalties will be a fair price /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

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[Teddy]

Did you say Cookham is cut off? Surely not. There is a very big flood defence system just built to prevent that. How much did it cost, and do they get a refund? I watched them build the wall, etc. Struck me as being a waste of time because the water will come UP through the ground. Something to do with the water table maybe. It might have delayed the flood, and given people more time to prepare, and so on, but was it a waste of money?

 

[byron]

<font color=blue>My neighbour who owns the farm tells me this is the highest he has ever seen it and he has owned the farm since the 60s.
I have lived here for almost 17 years and it is risen way over the previous levels. Last night it came within 100' of my house but this morning had dropped back a bit.</font color=blue>

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[PGD]

hi, yup , yesterday we tried to drive in from Bourne End but the road was shut - you could see the water right across the road - a good 500 yds from the bridge.

Then tried from Marlow and as said above there must be about 3 ft over the road, Boulters lock was at pavement level then further up the road was shut again.

Going down to chck on the baot this afternoon, we'll see what's what then

peter

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[Guest]

Re: Byron

Byron if its 100ft from yer house wheres yer boat know?

"Your chance to own a Crown is now"

 

[byron]

Re: Byron

<font color=blue>Can't get anywhere near the boat Clive not without a dinghy and I ain't got one</font color=blue>

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[Guest]

Re: Byron

how do you know that when the water receeds the boat wont be up on the bank?

"Your chance to own a Crown is now"

 

[BrendanS]

Yeah, it's higher than the flood two years ago (went over to Bushnells for a look yesterday as I can be more accurate there than elsewhere) which in turn equalled the flood of 47, which suggests this is the highest flood in probably more than 100 years.

Be interesting if that is corroborated by any official records

 

[Falcon71]

Happy New Year to you all.

I've got to drive to Shiplake via Henley in a couple of hours, can I get through?