Arterial drainage - a renewed threat

J. Ramone

Over the past week or two there appears to be a media spin in favour of river drainage works in the farming press. Arterial drainage is being touted as a cure for the nation's flooding woes. The drive is fuelled in no small part by the contractors engaged in such work. Council and Government funding is great for business.

Many will be aware of once fine fisheries in this fair isle which have been destroyed by arterial drainage schemes in past decades. I'm all for maintaining farm drains but where rivers are concerned, I suspect the very small (or negligable) drainage improvement would come at a huge cost both in financial and environmental terms. I can think of a number of reasons for the ferocity of recent flooding and lack of river dredging does not feature.

Paul Mooney has a two page spread in this week's Farmer's Journal which highlights the technical knowledge and wisdom of a number of drainage contractors. Quotes abound including this sage observation from Michael Boland of Kilkeel; "There's too much red tape and delay involded. We've done some work for the Board of Works and the amount of red tape they must deal with is huge...........There is a large number of agencies involved, including Fisheries and Wildlife and others. It's not easy for the Board of Works."

Well thanks be to Buddha we now have the EU and the habitats directive. On the other hand, those involved believe a media campaign is worthwhile and anything could be pushed through as a kneejerk while emotions run high. No time has been lost in striking while the iron is still hot. Recent articles in the Farmer's Journal and Farming Independent serve a strong dose of one sided opinion to the farmers of the nation on this subject. No mention was made by either of the fisheries destruction from past drainage schemes.

On a more positive note I was thinning some woodland at home the other day through which a small stream flows of one or two yards width. This little litter strewn watercourse has been hammered by pollution over the years and has at times carried a noticable odour. The further you travel downstream, the worse the pollution becomes. I heard stories of trout being present in the distant past. I looked over a gravelly run and noticed a stone of fish like shape and thought what if. To my amazement, the stone suddenly shot upstream. Later I crept up and spied my original trout which was in fact a sea trout of about ten inches surrounded by a number of smaller brownies. I brought my camera later but havent seen any after a number of visits.

ironbluedun

Without doubt there will be a lot of pressure for drainage schemes to re-commence and it is easy to see why. No body can not sympathise with people who are affected by flooding. But the damage the drainage does is immense and totally irreversible. To drain the spawning streams is like cutting the veins to the heart. All good wild fisheries have good natural spawning facilities and they have to be maintained in a sensible manner, not just dug up or turned into featureless ditches. Look at what happened the streams and rivers feeding into Lough Ennell. They were drained and turned into broad flat shallow streams with poor flow, little oxygen, poor plant life and not enough water to support a decent juvenile trout population. Subsequently trout populations crashed and that lough has never recovered, and never will. There are so many other cases of drainage schemes where similar damage has been caused. Hopefully those who control such activities will have some regard to others, but I am not optimistic about that. What I fear is that illegal or unapproved drainage schemes may be undertaken by land owners, and who knows what damage they will do.

SeaFields

I've heard this mentioned several times in the media and was emphasised by some of the contributors to Pat Kenny's Frontline in the weeks after the flood.

The overall contribution by the media to the flooding events has been amateurish with basic tech knowledge of the dynamics of the flood event lacking in most instances (without having read this article mentioned above in the farmers journal). I have studied flood analysis and management for the last number of years ( and cant get employed in the area - OH the Irony :mad:)

I suppose with the greens in government in wont happen anyway and as J Ramone says the EU directives wont allow it either. At this stage the media frenzy around the flooding has died down in any case with the budget making the headlines. Although the drainage concept might rare its ugly head again over the winter as more floods happen. Hopefully landowners wont take it upon themselves either to clear out some rivers running through their lands.

It does make you wonder about the medias grasp on many things though. Granted I could be considered somewhat as having an expertise in this particular area therefore the medias obvious errors stuck out like a sore thumb from my perspective. In several other areas highlighted in the past few months where I also have an avid interest I have seen a terrible attempt at grasping even the most basic principles by media commentators. By logic therefore it tells me that in areas I am not so familiar with I must be given as poor an insight into and just don't know it.

Zzippy

I would be worried alright about the government trying to start another major arterial drainage programme. It would be very shortsighted though, seeing as the recent floods were apparently a 1 in 800 year event. That muppet Plank Kenny hadn't a clue on the recent Frontline programme, kept repeating "We must drain the rivers" like a mantra.
Many rivers were completely destroyed during the 40s 50s and 60s, and ongoing maintenance has not allowed them to recover much. Thankfully, in the last few years, the OPW has taken a much more enlightened view, and while they still have a responsibility to maintain drainage, they consult very closely with fishery boards when planning maintenance operations, and are starting to do as much as they can to actually improve habitat for fish.
Farming is not as important economically to this country as it used to be, and the IFA lobby has lost some of its power, also the new EU directives (Habitats, Water Framework) should prevent large scale drainage being carried out again. But don't be surprised to see some rivers scheduled for extra maintenance... we should remain vigilant!