THE before and after photos of the beck near Broughton (“How rewilding is protecting against flooding”, Craven Herald January 18) might be a convincing demonstration if they were taken on the River Thames, where flood flows respond to rainfall over a period of weeks.
I have cycled past (and occasionally, alarmingly, through) that beck most days for the past 25 years, and I have seen that it floods after about two hours of intense rainfall. So the fact that the four-week rainfall totals are comparable in the two sets of photos has little relevance.
I’ve looked at the hourly rainfall data from the nearby weather station operated by the JBA Trust. It is far less convincing that the two events are comparable. I’ve passed the data on to Professor Alastair Driver.
There are valid debates about rewilding versus sheep rearing, and about the role of land management in flood alleviation. They need to be informed by sound science which uses valid comparisons. And, in my opinion, we need to keep on talking – and listening – about these matters.
Duncan Faulkner
President, British Hydrological Society
Gargrave
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