Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
River Lee flood warnings
It's not happening here yet, but the Environment Agency maps of likely flood warnings makes sobering viewing. A flood alert was issued in Hertford this week as the river level was critical and some low-lying areas areas were under water. Yesterday roads were closed in some Hertfordshire towns. The Environment Agency has issued flood warnings for the River Lee from Lemsford to Ware, as well as the River Ash at The Hadhams and the River Beane in Walkern.
That's the River Lea (or Lee), the one that runs through Tottenham and Hackney. Check the map, and see for example that the whole of Tottenham Hale is in a priority flood warning area - that's all those new tower blocks and the station. I remember being at a public meeting when the development was first mooted, and asking whether it wasn't all a bit close to the river. It's OK they said, they will be built to allow for that. I hope they remembered to do so.
This map should also be superimposed onto the Tottenham Area Action Plan. Will the developers have allowed for this, in their forthcoming land grab? We must project forwards too, this new climate is not going away.
Tags for Forum Posts: climate change, environment agency, flood, river lea, river lee
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bob Lindsay-Smith on
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I would hope that developers (and planning departments) will be more cautious about building in flood plains, and not just for a year or so while these floods are in recent memory.
You've linked to lots of interesting articles etc to study there, Alan! I shall have a good look later. The first link seems to be broken. I've found the article, but can't remember how to put a link in this comment properly!
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Many thanks, Bob, and apologies to other people who had trouble with the broken link to the article by Nicholas Stern. It had some stray extra letters and should have been:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/13/storms-floods-cl...
He led the team which produced the Stern Review Report on the Economics of Climate Change in 2006. Reading the Wikipedia page about him I noticed that it includes two interesting quotations. The first is as gloomy as I'd expect - given the rising evidence of climate change and the photos of recent flooding.
"Climate change is a result of the greatest market failure the world has seen. The evidence on the seriousness of the risks from inaction or delayed action is now overwhelming..The problem of climate change involves a fundamental failure of markets: those who damage others by emitting greenhouse gases generally do not pay.."[3]
The second was more positive.
“Where we can, we have to go to zero carbon, because of a growing population and a rising middle class in developing countries which wants the same standard of living the developed world already enjoys. GHGs must be cut by at least 50% around the world by 2050, with the rich, developed countries cutting by 80%, compared to 1990 levels. We are at the beginning of a technical revolution of the magnitude of the railway, the motor car ... The economic crisis is an opportunity to lay the foundation for the future ... You can tell a very positive story here.”[42]
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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It's an update of that old saying: If you think education is expensive, think of the cost of the alternative.
If you think reducing climate change is expensive, think of the cost of not.
Didn't Stern conclude that the change is happening and all we can do now is to plan for the meltdown? Unfortunately what this means to western politicians is to build up their armed forces (they haven't quite twigged yet, but watch this space).
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Permalink Reply by Christine Protz on
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Let's get real here. For a start the River Lea no longer runs through Tottenham Marshes, having been submerged by the reservoirs. We just have the canal, and it looks as if the flow is being controlled. I have been over the marshes yesterday and last week and there is absolutely no sign of flooding, and just the very occasional big puddle. Until the last few decades the marshes used to flood frequently, but the streams running down to the Lea have been controlled, as well as the river itself, with cuts to take the water flow. One stream in particular, the Carbuncle, has disappeared for no good reason that I know of. The biggest problem in the past for the houses on the edge, and particularly Tottenham Hale, has been the drains running down towards the Lea overflowing. The streets around the Hale and Broad Lane used to regularly flood. For me, the puzzle is the dog that didn't bark - why have we not had flooding? Improved drainage?
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What about Sam's photo above? Or is that a joke? Floods across the picnic area by Stonebridge Lock, if I recognise it right?
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Permalink Reply by James R Grinter on
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that's why I asked - You can see in the picture that it hasn't gone over the bank at the far side and I don't think it's the picnic area at all (you would see the lock, or some of its structure, in the background if that were the case), it looks like it was taken slightly further up, by one of the fishing jetties, and the sewage pipe that goes over the river.
As Madeline says, the water level is somewhat controlled around this area by the various flood channels, weir channels, etc. Larger amounts of water also divert into the Lea Flood Relief Channel up near Banbury Reservoir.
The parts of the River that run just east of Tottenham Lock under Ferry Lane have indeed been running a bit quicker this past week, but the river levels below the lock are no higher than they were when we had the heavy rain last year.
They still seem to be running their pumps over at Hale Village, so the low, mashy, grassy bit out front is drier than it has been at other times.
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Permalink Reply by Madeline on
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As I said in my earlier post, the river Lea runs between the Lea navigation and the reservoirs and is now used as a flood channel emptying below Tottenham locks. So it's still there but normal running is below the level of the navigation and well below the marsh. In all the years that I lived there I never saw it break it's bank and likewise the pound between Stonebridge and Tottenham locks. I've seen it high, very high and racing but it never topped it's bank. Heaven knows what was happening below Tottenham lock but we did hear that Hackney marshes were flooded. Since then though I've noticed that they've built up/reinforced the river bank by Hackney marsh and can only hope that it's still low enough for the water to escape there to flood the marsh.
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