Local Residents Hope River Dredging Will Alleviate Flooding

Residents anticipate that the dredging of the Cuckmere River, utilizing an amphibious digger, will mitigate flooding, following over 20 occurrences in the previous year. The de-silting operation, covering a 1.5-mile (2.4km) segment of the river situated immediately outside Alfriston, East Sussex, is scheduled to commence on Wednesday. According to farmers, the river section had become excessively narrow, leading to recent flooding incidents that isolated residents and businesses from the primary exit route from the village to the A27. The Environment Agency (EA) stated that it monitored the river’s mouth, removed shingle as required, and deployed a temporary pump in the village during winter months to assist with water displacement. Jonathan Spring, a parish councillor for Alfriston, commented: “Flooding has caused problems when they’ve tried dredging before, so at last it looks like the river will be in the right condition and we have the correct equipment to get the work done.“This time last year, businesses in the village were pulling their hair out. We had constant road closures, cars getting stuck in the water.” The Pevensey and Cuckmere Water Level Management Board (WLMB) allocated over £100,000 earlier this year for the elevation and reinforcement of the river bank’s eastern side. The dredging operation, projected to last two weeks, also received funding from the WLMB. The footpath on the river’s eastern bank is inaccessible during the period of these works. Jane Francis, whose cottage is situated beside the river, has experienced her home flooding on four occasions since 2019. She stated: “We’ve noticed the flooding has got much more frequent in the last few years,” she said.“The first major flood was in 2019, since then we’ve had lots of warnings and actual flooding events. The previous 10 years we never flooded.“When it was inside the house, it was just below knee level.” An EA spokesperson commented: “We monitor the condition at the mouth of the Cuckmere and clear the shingle when it becomes necessary to maximise the flow of water out to sea. “In the winter, we install a mobile pump at Alfriston to help move surface water, groundwater, and occasional fluvial flood water into the Cuckmere.” For updates, follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, X, and Instagram. Story ideas can be submitted to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp at 08081 002250. This content is Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the content found on external websites. Information regarding our external linking policy is available.