What actual measures have been put in place to prevent flooding like we had on Boxing Day 2015? The water levels of the Rochdale Canal have been very high for weeks now and there does not appear to have been any manual movement of water through the canal locks. With the current heavy rain, the power of the river increasing, the likelihood of flood seems very high. And there is little evidence of any action other than some river dredging months ago.

The December flood seemed, for most of the valley, to be short lived in terms of inundation of towns in the village.

The article linked to is titled '‘Unprecedented’ storms and floods are more common than we think'. It is on the Aberystwyth University website and gives food for thought, particularly the line, "we are grossly underestimating flood risk".

Judging from the scale of the flooding in Calderdale, the lack of prior warning to local residents and businesses, and the way in which the flood crisis was handled on the ground as it unfolded at the time and subsequently, it would appear that the Environment Agency is not fit for purpose and is literally out of its depth. It doesn't appear to have the technical or organisational skills to analyse and tackle the key issues or the will or commitment to implement the necessary solutions.

It is vital that Calderdale Council, the Environment Agency and our local MP lobby the government and exert pressure on ministers now in the immediate aftermath of these devastating floods in order to secure the necessary funding for urgent flood prevention work over the coming months. They also need to obtain a cast-iron guarantee of adequate funding for longer term flood prevention schemes and maintenance programmes.

We are told that it will be 9 more months until the EA releases it's catchment wide plan. How long will it then take to obtain planning permission / start to implement this plan? 2 years? 3 years?

The following line in the article linked to made me think it worth bringing to people's attention: “The landscape mops up the water – it’s a blotting paper effect and assures nothing like the Somerset Levels disaster happens”. I feel there are various points in the article worth serious consideration, e.g. farming systems, landscape-scale effects and properly functioning communities.

Welcome to caldervalleyfloods.org.uk This is your opportunity to ask questions and make comments about the causes and solutions of flooding in the Calder catchment. You can also have a discussion, by commenting on existing posts, which you can search by category. If you’d like to suggest any improvements to this site please do by contacting us. Giving your views here will, we hope, inform the thinking of the Calderdale Floods Commission, but please do also participate in its working.

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