North Level Internal Drainage Board chief says we need to look at future use of water after Storm Henk

The challenges posed by Storm Henk need to promote a discussion about our future use of water says a drainage board chief.

North Level District Drainage Board, which looks after watercourses in Crowland, Newborough and Wisbech areas, has also been been busy dealing with the deluge of rain which had been brought by the storm yesterday.

The board, which has ten pumping stations including one at Tydd, have been operating at near capacity with 29 of its 34 pumps operating following a very wet period with 22.48mm of rainfall recorded in early January.

But chief executive Paul Sharman is now calling for debate on water as a resource as we now face the challenges of crop irrigation during periods of drought.

He said: “We all need to be aware that climate change is very much relevant to us. We are going to experience more of these rainfall events and equally droughts, so the question I would raise is that we have got to have a serious discussion about water as a resource. Where can we store it? What can we do with it? In a few months time it will be irrigation season and we shall want water.

“We have got to look at how and where can store water for use. It should be seen as a resource.”

The board has measured 30.2in of rain during 2023 which is the wettest year since 1963 when 30.1inches was recorded.

Five pumps at Tydd Pumping Station have been busy by discharging 100,000 tones of water per minute into the tidal River Nene.

The River Welland at Crowland is currently running at a high level – which has prompted debate about Cowbit and Crowland washes.

Two years ago, the Environment Agency reported that the washes had come to ‘end of their design life’ with seepage occurring, and in 2022 they secured £2.8million of Government funding to investigate the ‘best use’ of washes.

The Crowland and Cowbit Washes were constructed in about 1664 to take excess water from the Welland and were flooded on an annual basis.

However, a series of measures implemented since the devastating floods of 1947, including the opening of the Coronation Channel in the 1950s, has meant the washes have not been used every year.

Mr Sharman said: “If the Welland is running brim full I would suggest that we need to have serious consideration, discussion or debate about whether they are coming to the end of their life or on the verge of being needed again.”

What do you think – should we store more water? Post a comment below.