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This was a super video Paul, the system has always fascinated me and I am going to do some exploring to hopefully get a better understanding of it. I will say that it all looked reassuringly calm, and controlled considering the scale of the flooding. Thanks a lot for the time you took to make the video.

Absolutely fascinating and so clearly and logically explained!

Fantastic to hear a detailed explanation of the some of the hugely complex issues involved in managing fen system. I look forward to watching anything else you post. I really want to buy you an external mic with a windsock :)

Very enlightening thank you for your pictures and explanations 👍🏻😊

Really interesting, Paul, I look forward to hearing more! Can you please provide links to the images in your presentation so that I can look more closely?

Thank you. This was very informative. We regular swim at Langford Mill on the Ivel and it was at its highest level for years on the 23/24th Dec, plus nasty discharge into the water from one particular drain. Useful to see the role that sluices can and can't play during flooding. Luckily, the flood meadows there haven't been built on and did their job perfectly preventing flooding of houses near the river.

Fascinating, in fact just what I have wanted ie a contextual understanding of the whole drainage concept across the wider region. Do you ever give talks ? As a local (Ely) surveyor dealing with dampness and occasionally flooding in buildings I also have a keen professional interest. Thank you once again for such an interesting explanation.

Hi Paul I think the EA needs people like you in every one of their catchments debunking the myths about sluices and gates. I know these myths are the same in the Nene catchment where 'the big gates' are opened to protect Northampton and flood everyone downstream. As well as all of the Great Ouse valley too? I must admit that is a new one to me. I have even heard of sluices being opened in Leicester and managing to flood the Nene valley. Overflow from the Soar when the Trent is full, obviously. These are all 'facts' on social media, whereas they are all misconceptions of how the catchments operate. Keep up the good work and one day people will realise that building on flood plains is not really a good idea and if you live or farm on a flood plain you are going to get wet feet when it rains a lot.

Hello Paul, as one of the residents of Newport Pagnell who flooded on the 24th December 2020 I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on why the Great Ouse and Ouzel at the Church measuring station Newport Pagnell rose from 2.5M to 3.15M in less than half an hour on the morning of the 24th. We are back at 2.5M now 22.01.21 and unusually all our local stations have not been updated at the normal intervals, in particular the Church yard station has not been updated since 2.00PM today this is a very concerning situation. There is a theory that a discharge from Willen and Caldecotte lakes and possibly Cotton Valley sewage works effectively dammed the Great Ouse at the confluence of the Ouzel and Great Ouse, please could you share your thoughts on this. paulkentyfy@gmail.com

Thank for posting this and your one about the floods December 2020, i teach at CRC at Huntingdon and Cambridge and regularly cover the environmental issues around where we live, these will help my students better understand i have just shared in my online lesson, keep up the good work.

Hi Paul. I would love a presentation on the Ely Ouse system. We, at Upware, were flooded Christmas Eve / Christmas day. The river management system seemed to have shut down only returning on Boxing Day. I'm sure its more complex than it appears when you are facing a flood situation; we were praying for the Denver Sluices to open :-) I'd love to hear your comments on what happened during this period and to learn about the overall management of the Camb, Ely Ouse system. Thank you.

This not intended to be a negative comment but to broaden the picture... At Upware we were flooded on Christmas day. It seemed that the river management had gone on holiday. Boxing day the system appeared to start-up again and worst was avoided. The situation seemed to be repeating itself at the end of last week -15/16 Jan - so, on the suggestion of the Waterbeach River Board, I contacted the Environmental Agency. They seemed totally unaware of our Christmas trauma, which was a bit of a worry. This is a fascinating river management system; I’m not sure you’ve explained it in all its complexity here but I am keen to understand it further, especially as it can have such an effect on our day today lives. I look forward to future postings. Thanks for this insight.

How does the Netherlands which is mostly under sea level deal with this?

Thanks for that Paul, I was one of the unfortunate to be totally flooded out in Harrold by the river in the early hours of Christmas Day having been told by the police the peak would be 6am boxing day! We were flooded about 200mm inside and about 350 -500 external. Thing is it came and went within a 12 hrs period in a wave, it seemed like a sudden volume on top of a flood?

This was fascinating - thankyou! Videos like this really help understand how big the river system is and how complicated managing it can be!

So, given everything that you said, why is it that we were told in Sharnbrook and the North Bedfordshire/Great Ouse Valley to expect flooding BECAUSE the sluice gates at Newport Pagnell were to be opened to save NP town? And within 6/7 hours of that occurence, those houses at risk were underwater? What I want to know is, why weren't the gates opened to a lesser extent earlier, which would have dispersed the water more slowly, giving it the chance to move through the valley WITHOUT flooding homes? www.gofundme.com/f/save-romas-cottage/share?fbclid=IwAR1PkUYiHTR9aVKIJy2uDII0h3dmgG9rBafwOoNr8S1TALlA7FjfEBKqIXw

Many thanks Paul - really useful and interesting. Would be interested in more along these lines that you might be able to produce in the future.

Thank you Paul, very informative.

Thank you - that is helpful. Is there anything that can be done to move the water more quickly out of the Alconburys so it doesn't rise so high?

I’d not heard anyone around Brampton “blaming” the Bedford or other sluices for localised flooding. It had always flooded around the Racecourse and the drain that runs along Lenton’s fields. The Dec 2020 floods (and again mid-Jan) seem to be exacerbated by the changes for the new A1/A14 junction at Brampton Hut. The surface water from the road comes off too fast and overwhelms the new drainage channels, and the older ones can’t cope with all the extra water! I can send photos showing the issue.

Thank you. I see also published on Twitter.

Thank you Paul for the interesting and informative presentation.

thank you

Good to see this Paul, it was amazing to see how much incorrect commentary about sluices was posted as apparent 'fact' on Facebook during the recent Christmas floods. Can you do one of these information videos about the impact of building on floodplains? This certainly gets Bedford folk animated on social media, especially Tesco/beach pool on Cardington meadows, Riverfield estate on the former power station site and Great Denham. Thanks, and more power to your geekdom on all things river-related.

Informative leacther

Fantastic video Paul hope to see some more in the future.

Thanks Paul, an excellent and informative video. It's an amazing set of systems to keep the fenlands safe and dry!

Many thanks for your informative video on water management in the Fens. I'm impressed with the scale of the operation, especially the Ouse Washes. I live further north of here in the Lincolnshire Fens near Boston but many of the same challenges exist here, too. Without effective water management and flood defences, the area would be a very different place! I've been aware of some of these issues for a while now, but it came home to me more strongly after flooding in my local area in 2019 and 2007. I narrowly avoided having to evacuate from my home both times!

Thanks so much Paul to you and the team for all the unseen work that you do to keep the Fens safe and productive. This was a fascinating watch and just goes to show that we shouldn’t take water management for granted.

Fantastic video Paul! It’s truly impressive. V grateful for all the efforts of those involved.

Great work Paul.

Very interesting. I had no idea how much goes on in the background to manage the river systems in our part of the world

Thanks everyone for the positive comments. I’m really humbled. I love the catchment and the Fens and take so much from listening to people... if you’re on Twitter please give @FutureFens a follow... a new account

Really enjoyed that, and I'm going to make it my plan to investigate more of the stretch from Earith to Kings Lynne. I've been on google maps looking for suitable dog walks since watching this. Fascinating how since the 1200's water has been managed, and yet in just a few recent years, the new commercial sites near the old Manchester Arms have caused water chaos. Would be interested to know if they really got it wrong there or if its just bad luck. Thanks for your effort here :)

That's so interesting Paul thank you.

A very interesting video and thank you for sharing. However, PLEASE be very careful when discussing potential sea level rise, because sea levels have been rising gradually since the last ice age. The RATE of sea level rise has NOT accelerated - see facebook.com/groups/680720179063150/permalink/1034769030324928 and www.sealevel.info/avgslr.html?fbclid=IwAR0OFWPI7PNR2pGuC_739BYwyKFZw1pf_-cKyMV7HStWtKV8rtCdK3k-BFo

Fascinating. Excellent video Paul. Thanks for putting this together. I’ve lived in St Ives and Needingworth for 40 years and this is the most thorough overview I’ve seen of how our local watercourses come together and the role of the various sluices. Thank you!

Very interesting and informative video, thank you for your time and trouble in making it, for all of us to enjoy.

Thanks for the fascinating insight. Very interesting.

An excellent film, very informative, hopefully some of those who know little about the work of the IDB's and the EA will be better informed now! As the District Superintendent for M & W DDC, I worked over all of Christmas keeping my pumps, equipment and drains in good order. Well done and keep up the good work.

Thanks Paul Very informative

Thank you very much - some very interesting shots here!

Excellent description of the systems in place to alleviate and control flooding. Thanks for making and posting the film and commentary. Its very rarely we get to see what is happening 'behind the scenes' to prevent flooding. Looking forward to more insights.

Thanks for sharing your story Paul. So glad to see you came out the other end in such good condition!

Top Man Paul, thanks for sharing this #swa (Tranmere Crohnie) x