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Written question asked by Rosie Cooper (Labour) on Wednesday, 4 November 2020, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 9 November 2020. It was answered by Rebecca Pow (Conservative) on Friday, 13 November 2020 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Rivers: West Lancashire

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allocating additional funding to the Environment Agency to fund the desilting of land in West Lancashire constituency so that that land can be effectively drained to protect crops from loss and damage.

Answer

De-silting (also referred to as dredging) and clearing channels, are important parts of the Environment Agency’s (EA) river maintenance regime. The EA will undertake these activities where there is evidence that they will reduce flood risk to local properties cost effectively without increasing flooding downstream.

Typically over each of the past three years the Environment Agency has spent between £45 million and £55 million a year on channel maintenance, of which between £5 million and £11 million is for dredging.

Channel maintenance in West Lancashire, where the majority of watercourses are man-made for drainage, includes a range of activities to maintain conveyance such as desilting, weed cutting and removing blockages. Locally over the last three years in West Lancashire the EA has carried out £175,000 worth of desilting, as part of its recurring maintenance programme.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
111462
Session
2019-21
Subjects
Agriculture Finance Flood control Environment Agency Rivers Dredging West Lancashire
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk