Surfleet Reservoir residents call for better flood management
People who live next to Surfleet Reservoir are calling for better management of the water to prevent flooding near their homes.
Frustrated resident John Whitmore wants the Environment Agency to better control the River Glen along with preventing rising water around homes at the reservoir.
A combination of high tides from the sea and water being pumped from the fields around the Bourne Eau system brought rising river levels in January when firefighters were called to pump water away from the homes.
Mr Whitmore said: “I would like them to control the water. This is the period when we get more high tides – why don’t they drop the water levels by one foot and it wouldn’t cause this?
“It takes three days for the rain to run off the fields and drain off but in those three days they don’t compensate.
“Bourne pumps away without knowing if the gates are open. Most of the time it takes 30 minutes for the water to get here.
“It was like a bore wave on January 29. I have never seen seen water coming down so quickly. It lifted a 60lb flower pot and swept it off the road.”
Mr Whitmore also feels that the
introduction of new sluice gates four years ago along with replacing the lockkeeper with an automatic system has made things worse.
He is also calling for a better planning system, which takes into account weather forecasts, along with having people on shift over weekends to tackle problems as they happen. Mr Whitmore has been diverted to a Sheffield call centre over weekends and does not feel action is taken.
He said: “Ever since we had new gates here we have had loads of floods. There’s no lockkeeper or anyone to do anything. They don’t take any notice of what anyone says. It would be 100% better if they had someone based here.”
Repairs are still being conducted to the home of two residents, who did not wish to be named, following the January flood.
They are living in two rooms after water flooded into their bungalow and damaged electrics and flooring.
One of them said: “They don’t run the water enough. They knew we had the extra rain coming down.”
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “The Surfleet sluice complex has protected residents from over 30 flooding incidents in 2021 alone. Over the past few years, we have invested more than £800,000 in refurbishing the sluice gates and improving how they operate.”
“There will be times when we can’t immediately lower levels in River Glen, such as during periods of high tides and when flows are high in general, such as after heavy rainfall. This doesn’t mean the system is not working.
“We work closely with Welland and Deepings Internal Drainage Board and continue to look at ways we can reduce flooding to Surfleet Reservoir and manage the levels on the River Glen.”
He said, following on from the flooding experienced earlier this year, the Agency has made some minor alterations to ensure the gates stay open longer.
But, if water levels are lowered for too long and unnecessarily there are
issues with bank stability which
impacts local roads and properties.
lMembers of the public are asked to call the incident hotline number 0800 807060 to report flooding. This service is operated 24 hours-a-day, 365 days a year. Reports are passed onto the relevant duty officer who then investigates.
The Agency also encourages members of the public to sign up to its free flood warning service: www.gov.uk/sign-up-for-flood-warnings
