Laxey flooding

[Alex]

Their plans are pretty grim, massive big poles in the river in the beautiful Laxey Glen:

http://www.iomtoday.co.im/article.cfm?id=56582&headline=Debris catcher for Laxey River§ionIs=NEWS&searchyear=2020

[GD4ELI]

5 minutes ago, Alex said:

Their plans are pretty grim, massive big poles in the river in the beautiful Laxey Glen:

http://www.iomtoday.co.im/article.cfm?id=56582&headline=Debris catcher for Laxey River§ionIs=NEWS&searchyear=2020

With climate change there will be more precipitation and more sporadic & heavy flooding is to be expected. It's either this solution or get planting trees all the way up the valley to the mountain road, trees will hold the water and reduce the flash floods.

[TheTeapot]

3 minutes ago, GD4ELI said:

With climate change there will be more precipitation and more sporadic & heavy flooding is to be expected. It's either this solution or get planting trees all the way up the valley to the mountain road, trees will hold the water and reduce the flash floods.

I'm all for it. Forest the whole series of valleys draining down there. Simplistically, plant mostly willow, birch and hazel riverside with beech, maple and sycamore further back and in 15 years release the beavers.

[Non-Believer]

16 minutes ago, Alex said:

Their plans are pretty grim, massive big poles in the river in the beautiful Laxey Glen:

http://www.iomtoday.co.im/article.cfm?id=56582&headline=Debris catcher for Laxey River§ionIs=NEWS&searchyear=2020

This will rely on the debris catcher being regularly cleared of, er, debris. The old concrete sluice, now removed, acted as a debris catcher too. Look what it contributed to.

The solution is regular maintenance. Who's in charge of it again...?

[TheTeapot]

4 minutes ago, Non-Believer said:

 

The solution is regular maintenance. Who's in charge of it again...?

Is it the Department of Streams? Cos, really, lets face it, we barely even have rivers over here.

[Out of the blue]

24 minutes ago, TheTeapot said:

Is it the Department of Streams? Cos, really, lets face it, we barely even have rivers over here.

You may jest,  but you are right we have small rivers with minimal hill catchment. They fill quickly, but go down just as quickly. Regular maintenance once they have sorted out the years of neglect, will not require a huge resources.

[Uhtred]

1 hour ago, TheTeapot said:

...and in 15 years release the beavers.

This seemed like an open goal but in the interests of good taste, I won’t say it.

(And actually I agree 100% with your afforestation proposal).

[WTF]

11 hours ago, Alex said:

Their plans are pretty grim, massive big poles in the river in the beautiful Laxey Glen:

http://www.iomtoday.co.im/article.cfm?id=56582&headline=Debris catcher for Laxey River§ionIs=NEWS&searchyear=2020

how does more debris know not to go around the sides like the water is supposed to do once there is a bit of debris pole dancing?

[MadAsHell]

Shouldn't the poles be on the road to stop diggers knocking the wall down, then diverting the river with said digger?

 

[Roger Mexico]

2 hours ago, WTF said:

how does more debris know not to go around the sides like the water is supposed to do once there is a bit of debris pole dancing?

The idea seems to be that it traps larger debris like tree trunks to stop them getting further down and creating dams and causing flooding there.  But it does look rather odd that what they have done is recreate the weir that had a similar (if flimsier) catcher that contributed to the flooding in the first place.  MUA then claimed they had been forced to keep it in place by MNH  and when MNH said this was bollocks tried to claim they'd said no such thing.

 It's actually on the Glen Roy river so I think the idea is to trap bigger debris before it gets to the main river and causes blockages there, especially at the DoI's hideous new bridge.  It may just cause flooding elsewhere of course but maybe the idea is to destroy the Flour Mills so they can spend more millions rebuilding that.

[Alex]

I would much prefer more natural solutions such as rewilding, planting more trees, beavers etc as per Teapot's comments. The beaver project in Cornwall has been an outstanding success. 

[Roger Mexico]

5 minutes ago, Alex said:

I would much prefer more natural solutions such as rewilding, planting more trees, beavers etc as per Teapot's comments. The beaver project in Cornwall has been an outstanding success. 

You may have to do both because it takes time for trees to grow (and of course more trees, more debris) but more trees and a restoration of peat bogs (which might be even more effective) in the uplands would be a good idea.  The problem last October was due to the large area of upland that drains into the valley.  I'm not sure that beavers would work though - I think the landscapes the wrong shape.

[Andy Onchan]

6 minutes ago, Alex said:

I would much prefer more natural solutions such as rewilding, planting more trees, beavers etc as per Teapot's comments. The beaver project in Cornwall has been an outstanding success. 

I'm not 100% convinced the introduction of a beaver population will solve the problem. The geography of Cornwall is not the same as the Laxey Valley with it's steep sides and lack of a plateau anywhere along the route for them to build the lodges. And even 15 years worth of wood growth probably wouldn't be sufficient to supply an increase in beaver population given that their lifespan is only 10 years (offspring go off to find and build their own lodges).

[TheTeapot]

13 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said:

You may have to do both because it takes time for trees to grow (and of course more trees, more debris) but more trees and a restoration of peat bogs (which might be even more effective) in the uplands would be a good idea.  The problem last October was due to the large area of upland that drains into the valley.  I'm not sure that beavers would work though - I think the landscapes the wrong shape.

The beaver suggestion wasn't especially serious, although you'll note if you read my post that I had allowed for the time required.

[Dave Hedgehog]

7 hours ago, WTF said:

how does more debris know not to go around the sides like the water is supposed to do once there is a bit of debris pole dancing?

I expect due to lack of maintenance the debris will build up and form a dam which will then burst suddenly in a storm causing worse flooding than before.