Alison Boulton digs beneath the city's dreaming spires

Anyone who’s ever knocked over a full glass knows that a little water goes a long way. More goes farther. It was only a small sound, the crack of breaking glass – but suddenly there was water everywhere, gushing down the kitchen cupboards, cascading onto the tiled floor and pooling around my ankles. The aquarium had sprung a leak, the fish were flipping under the fridge, beneath the cooker and out towards the garden. It took a while to clear up. There was loss of life.

How much worse, then, for the people of West Oxford who have endured a week of foetid river water in their much loved homes and gardens. The ‘weirding of the weather’ makes flooding more likely. In Yorkshire, our dale was affected each winter. Waders were not just for fishing. Our ancient Land Cruiser got us out of many scrapes.

It’s no surprise that flooding affects health. A study of the 1968 Bristol flood victims published in the British Medical Journal in 1970 found a 50 per cent increase in the number of deaths among those who had been flooded, with a ‘conspicuous rise’ in deaths from cancer. Surgery attendance rose by 53 per cent, referrals to hospital and hospital admissions more than doubled. Now, wait for it… ‘in all respects, the men appeared less well able to cope with the experience of disaster than the women.’ Add to ill health, not being able to get to work or school, road closures, huge traffic jams around the city and the big picture begins to emerge: flooding is not just a recurrent tragedy for West Oxford residents. It affects all of us, no matter where we live in the county. Apart from time and reputation, it also costs Oxford taxpayers’ money. The Pitt report estimated the cost to the country of the 2007 floods at £1.5bn. Effective measures are expensive – but no more so than the aftermath of one disastrous episode.

Some progress has been made. Hard working councillors – both city and county, the Environment Agency and our energetic MPs Andrew Smith and Nicola Blackwood have all listened. The Oxford Flood Alliance has galvanised local support and suggested several flood reduction measures. The Oxford Flood Risk Strategy has been formulated. It needs substantial investment to implement in full.

So come on Oxford. Let’s share our expertise. The city needs every voice raised in support: the Universities, including the Said Business School with sites close to the Botley Road and Kennington, our elected representatives, our investors in hi-tec industries on the business parks, our retailers, our citizens who love their city. Perhaps we should rally the support of Kate Middleton, whose home village of Buckleberry united very effectively to secure funding to protect itself from future floods.

Our city is too precious to write off whole districts to this misery. Here’s a thought: if the flooded population of South Hinksey go to polls in 2015 and no action has been taken, Nicola Blackwood could be out of a job. Oxford is the third most marginal seat in the country. Only 176 votes could decide it and David Cameron, up the road in Witney, needs success in key marginals to have any hope of being re-elected. The time is right to invest. Let’s put flooding firmly on the agenda for the General Election of 2015.