We’ve followed proposals to build massive (and massively damaging) barrages across several of the UK’s estuaries – the Severn, The Thames, The Mersey and even the Wash. Some of these proposals have got further than others, but they all follow a familiar pattern, initial enthusiasm, sober reflection and the realisation that the damage and costs are un-sustainable. On the Wash we are in the early enthusiasm stage. My colleague, Rob Lucking our Area Manager for the Wash and North Norfolk, attended a meeting earlier in the week and sent me this note afterwards.
‘On Wednesday I went along to a talk organised by the local branch of the Institute of Engineering and Technology. The speaker was Peter Dawe, internet entrepreneur and self-styled New Noah and the subject was his idea for a barrier across The Wash, the UK's most important estuary for wildlife, lying on England's East Coast between Norfolk and Lincolnshire.
His rationale is that as sea levels rise, sea defences will have to be raised to keep the sea out of The Fens - one of the UK's most productive agricultural areas and home to around 300,000 people. With over 200km of sea defences around The Wash and its tidal rivers, surely an easier option would be to build a barrage across The Wash. The cost of building the barrage (£1.5billion) would be offset by building in some turbines to generate electricity. Mr Dawe estimates the generating capacity of his barrage would be in the order of 1-2GW (the equivalent of Sizewell B) and said the income from energy generation would pay for the scheme embarrassingly fast'. A bit of a no-brainer you might think - protection of all that land and property and the scheme will pay for itself within a few years.
So far so good? Well experience elsewhere would indicate that it won’t be nearly as simple as that. One of the problems with tidal barriers is that they can massively increase rates of erosion of the coastline adjacent to the barrier (the impeded water has to go somewhere). The best comparable study is the Eastern Scheldt (you can find a report here as a pdf on the left hand side of the screen under the map) in The Netherlands where a storm surge barrier built in the 1980s has resulted in massive erosion of the adjacent intertidal, so much so that millions of Euros will have to be spent to defend the very land the storm surge barrier was built to protect in the first place!
Peter Dawe’s answer to the question of whether the negative impacts of his scheme on the neighbouring coastal communities in North Norfolk and Lincolnshire was a price worth paying for protecting the Fens. His answer? A resounding, and surprising yes! Not a comfortable message for the communities of Skegness, Brancaster, Wells etc.
So far, Mr Dawe’s bright idea has not attracted funding (and his estimate of £1.5 billion looks low for a barrier longer than the proposed Cardiff – Weston Severn Barrage by a factor of 10). The need for a barrier to protect the fens is unproven and not backed by the analysis of the Environment Agency. Seemingly agreeing with those challenges, but in what was probably an attempt at irony, Mr Dawe said his scheme was probably a stupid idea. For those of us who value The Wash as a fantastic natural resource and don't want to see it destroyed by a scheme that isn't required – we would agree’.
And here's a picture of the Wash - highlighting just how big an area it is.
Follow me on twitter.
Yes, another proposal to inflict massive environmental damage on the UK in the name of producing 'green' energy. Let's hope the government agree that for this and the other appalling schemes "the damge and costs are unsustainable".