{"id":461684,"date":"2026-03-07T00:42:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T00:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/461684\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T00:42:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T00:42:25","slug":"england-has-enough-experts-to-manage-flooding-we-just-dont-fund-them-flooding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/461684\/","title":{"rendered":"England has enough experts to manage flooding, we just don\u2019t fund them | Flooding"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">We don\u2019t need to import Dutch expertise (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2026\/feb\/24\/bring-in-dutch-water-experts-to-stop-the-endless-cycle-of-flooding-in-britain\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Letters, 24 February<\/a>) \u2013 England already has excellent flood scientists and engineers. What we lack is sustained funding and a government that listens.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">With climate change, flooding is becoming unavoidable. But in England we still do not fully understand how and why many floods happen. Our complex coastlines, estuaries, and river systems are under-researched, leaving major gaps in knowledge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The Dutch are better protected not because they know more but because their governments chose long-term investment and stable funding. In the UK, research support arrives in short bursts, driven by political cycles rather than scientific need.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">How can we plan and adapt effectively when we do not invest in understanding the problem? This piecemeal approach leaves researchers and communities permanently one step behind. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/flooding\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Flooding<\/a> is not just a natural hazard, it is a political choice about whether we manage risk seriously or accept repeated, avoidable damage.<br \/>Charlotte Lyddon<br \/>Poynton, Greater Manchester<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\"> The last time I heard it said to \u201cbring in the Dutch\u201d was during the wide-scale flooding in 2013-14. The press announced to great fanfare that some Dutch water experts would be visiting the Somerset Levels. They did, for several days, and then announced something on the lines of \u201cthe British know exactly what they are doing, you just need to fund them properly and ensure they are given powers to deal with the problem\u201d. At which point they were quickly shipped back to Holland as that didn\u2019t fit the popular narrative.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Fund the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/environment-agency\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Environment Agency<\/a> and local authorities sufficiently, give local authorities powers to actually prevent building on floodplains and take the risk of climate change seriously. That would put us on par with the Dutch. <br \/>Rob Newton<br \/>Exeter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We don\u2019t need to import Dutch expertise (Letters, 24 February) \u2013 England already has excellent flood scientists and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461685,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-461684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}