Floods in France

Last weekend Britain was lashed by gales and massive sea swells but once again the Marsh was ‘lucky’ ( if you can call it that)  and escaped the worst  . The combination of spring tides coupled with high winds  and the consequent flooding could have potentially been disasterous for us all . It could have caused  damage similar to that experienced in France on the Atlantic coast between La Rochelle and  L’Aguillon sur Mer. Given that we too  live in a low-lying and predominantly below sea level area,  which is  shaped like a saucer, one break-through  in our sea defences would have been sufficient to cause the human drama and terrible toll as has been experienced abroad.

Collapse of sea wall and road!

As anger mounted in France over the failure of sea walls to protect coastal communities, French  President Sarkozy  pledged 3 Million Euros (2.7 m)  to aid France’s storm-hit region (who have a statutory right of protection in stark contrast to us) and declared it a national catastrophy. Let us hope that our own sea defence improvements on the Marsh will be completed soon . Otherwise we could find ourselves  in a  similar position to that of the  poor people in France and elsewhere!

The Environment Agency has just published its ninth ‘State of the Environment’ Report for the Southeast  and over the next two years  maps will be published to show those areas of the coast most at risk from coastal erosion , rendering these areas to higher risks of flooding.

DOC continues  to liaise on behalf of all  its members and coastal communities with all relevant Government Agencies to ensure that the Marsh remains adequately protected.

DOC is delighted to report that the High Knocke to Dymchurch  sea defence scheme has been allocated  a further £11.9 million to complete the ongoing works of this £60 million section , which forms part of the  overall Folkestone to Cliff End Strategy. Once completed,  this section will protect over 6,000 properties from flooding, but still leaves many more thousands of properties on the Marsh  at risk until  the whole strategy has been successfully implemented. Planning and assessment for the remaining sections is ongoing and DOC will do everything within its powers to ensure  that progress will be maintained.

It was an excellent opportunity to engage with Lord Smith, Chairman of the Environment Agency , who was the Guest Speaker at the meeting and many pressing issues concerning  sea defences were addressed during a Q & A session which followed his address.

DOC was very much encouraged to hear from Lord Smith that he is a   staunch supporter of Coastal Groups who act on behalf of their wider coastal communities in order to redress the inequality of ‘bargaining power’. Lord Smith said that he hopes  this imbalance between the various Government Agencies who propose Shoreline Management Plans and those communities  who are directly affected by these decisions can be overcome and he is actively encouraging EA staff to work closely with coastal groups in order to give their concerns due consideration. He further hoped that greater transparency and increased  dissemination of information by Government Agencies with coastal groups  would form part of this newly founded initiative.

Dengemarsh 3.1. 2010

Our Technical Officer , Tony Hills, has just completed his inspection of the beach maintenance work along the Lydd Ranges,  carried out by the Environment Agency over the Christmas break.  His photographs show that the profiling is very ‘thin’  with a lack of available material on the foreshore.

The re-shingling of the gap above Dengemarsh car park heading towards the Power Station’s switch house has completely failed and had been overtopped by the last storm.  There is an urgent need to correct this situation.

Galloways Lookout Tower has had some SGS (shingle, grit and sand) pushed around it but  any strengthening/re-profiling carried out in this location collapses again  as soon as the sea touches it.

Lydd Ranges 3.1.2010

DOC’s concerns have yet again  been passed on to the Environment Agency as the lack of protection to the Ranges leaves us  hoping that any bad weather will not coincide with Spring Tides in March. There is an urgent need for a  proper interim defence plan  to be installed as soon as possible and DOC will continue to monitor the situation very closely.

Typical sensor grid pattern

Pioneering tests of the world’s first underwater coastal erosion monitoring system are to take place for the first time next week in Wales. ASTEC ( Automated Sensing Technologies For Coastal Monitoring)  employs a ‘grid of electromagnetic sensors’  which could  save billions of pounds and have a positive  effect on millions of lives around the world by predicting exactly which parts of coastal areas will be eroded,  a  problem affecting approximately 17% of the UK.

With 50-70% of the global population living in coastal zones and rising sea levels accelerated by climate change, this new technology could give scientists the vital information needed to predict what is happening beneath the surface of the sea at our coasts. Until now data  for coastal erosion has been largely obtained by naked eye observations and measurements of exposed coastal areas, such as beaches. But details of what happens below the sea’s surface has generally not been measurable.

Experts from Swansea Metropolitan University’s School of Built and Natural Environment and School of Applied Computing have teamed up with Wireless Fibre Systems Ltd (WFS) and Valeport Ltd to produce automated sensing technologies for coastal monitoring using the new prototype.

The system works via a series of solid steel sensors placed in a grid pattern on the sea bed. Each sensor measures the weight of sand and sediment on top of it, very similar to home weighing scales. At 15- minute intervals data is wirelessly transmitted to a buoy on the surface of the water where it is then transferred once a day via satellite phone system to a computer for analysis. This should enable more accurate decisions to be made regarding intervention levels and the type of intervention when such events occur and could have significant implications for coastal management.

With  present uncertainties over climate change and its consequential expected impacts on our coastlines, this system could provide valuable data to quantify these effects more completely and therefore enable coastal defence organisations to make the appropriate responses. In the past acoustic and optical technology has been used to monitor underwater activity, but both are restricted because of the turbulent environment, debris and salt water. Until now electromagnetic  technology has always been used on land but has , up until now, never been possible underwater.

With current flood defences struggling to keep pace with environmental changes a  drastic rethink in coast management approach is  needed to safeguard our coastlines. Not only would this technology provide the vital information needed  for effective coast management, but it would also have the potential to save many millions of pounds and  have a positive impact on millions of lives along our coastline.

DOC Meeting- December 2009

DOC held its Christmas Party/Open Evening on the 4 December 2009 in Camber. Council Representatives and Stakeholders from all across the Marsh attended the event , as well as many DOC Members. After a welcoming speech by our Chairman, Terry Preston, our Technical Officer Tony Hills gave a short PowerPoint presentation on the newly purchased laptop and projector during which recent update information received from the Environment Agency concerning the proposed sea defence scheme for the Broomhill Frontage was relayed .This was followed by a brief Q & A session. Everyone enjoyed the evening with a buffet and raffle / auction which had excellent prizes donated by generous DOC supporters. The event was closed by Terry Preston and DOC wishes to thank all its Members and Stakeholders for their continued and enthusiastic support.