Sir – I note that the local politicians are proposing a flood relief channel around Oxford at the estimated cost of £120m.
Does this only deal with a symptom of the problem and worse still, pass the problem downstream to Abingdon, Wallingford Henley, etc?
Wouldn’t a better solution be to deal with the problem before it gets to Oxford? All the main rivers upstream of Oxford lie to the north-west and west.
Perhaps a solution is to have a number of small ‘holding’ reservoirs on the Rivers Ray, Cherwell, Evenlode, Windrush and Thames? In areas of flat land, drainage lagoons are formed to contain water in times of flood, releasing it slowly into the drainage system later.
The ‘holding’ reservoirs could do the same but on a larger scale. Not only would the reservoirs prevent flooding in Oxford and towns and villages to the north and west, they would also prevent a lot of damage caused by scour to bridges.
If properly managed, enough water could be released to ensure water meadows still flood. Until population growth is addressed, water will become an increasingly scarce resource and a true asset to those who have it.
Barry Dodman-Edwards, (Chartered civil engineer), Charlbury
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