England has enough experts to manage flooding, we just don’t fund them | Letters

. UK edition

Burrow Bridge, Somerset, in February 2014
‘The Dutch are better protected not because they know more but because their governments chose long-term investment and stable funding.’ Photograph: Anthony Collins/Alamy

Letters: Charlotte Lyddon and Rob Newton respond to a letter writer who said we need to bring in Dutch expertise to stop the endless cycle of flooding in Britain

We don’t need to import Dutch expertise (Letters, 24 February) – England already has excellent flood scientists and engineers. What we lack is sustained funding and a government that listens.

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.

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.

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. Flooding is not just a natural hazard, it is a political choice about whether we manage risk seriously or accept repeated, avoidable damage.
Charlotte Lyddon
Poynton, Greater Manchester

• The last time I heard it said to “bring in the Dutch” 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 “the 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”. At which point they were quickly shipped back to Holland as that didn’t fit the popular narrative.

Fund the Environment Agency 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.
Rob Newton
Exeter