Water on the Land

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Boscastle, Cornwall

  • 16 August 2004
  • Stands where 2 valleys meet, formed by River Jordan and Valency
  • River Paradise flows through the village
  • Shape of land acted like a funnel, directing vast volumes of water into the village
  • 6cm of rainfall fell in 2 hours, 13cm fell in 7 hours
  • Underlying rocks are impermeable and help to increase discharge rates
  • Ground was already saturated from previous flow of rain
  • Bridge constricted water flow
  • £15 million damage
  • 60 properties were flooded
  • 75 cars were washed away
  • 120 people were airlifted away
  • Flood warning at 4:10pm
  • Car parks were raised in height and built with permeable surfaces
  • Tree management t intercept water to reduce run off
  • River channel deepened to reduce risk of breaking it's banks
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Bangladesh

  • July and August 2007
  • Rivers Brahmaputra and Ganges
  • Heavy rainfall, 900mm fell in July
  • Saturated soil from previous rain, increased runoff
  • Melting snow in Himalayan mountains increased discharge of Brahmaputra river
  • Both rivers peaked at the same time, increased discharge downstream
  • Over 2000 deaths
  • 25 million people were made homeless
  • 112,000 houses were destroyed in India
  • 100,000 people caught water-bourne diseases
  • Basmati rice yields reduced so prices rose by 10%
  • Governments and charities distributed food, water and medical equipment
  • International charities funded rebuilding of homes, agriculture and fishing industries
  • Homes were rebuilt on stilts to reduce damage from further floods
  • Some people didn't evacuate which slowed down further evacuations
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Kielder Reservoir, Northumberland

  • Creates new jobs in tourism
  • Forest Park employs 200 people
  • Transfer and storage schemes are expensive
  • Provides recreational and visitor attraction
  • Attracts 300,000 people a year
  • Only 7 families were forced to move out
  • Used to control discharge of the River Tyne
  • Flooded a large farmland
  • 1.5 million trees cut down, habitats were lost
  • Release of clean water into River Tyne encourgaed salmon and sea trout to migrate up river and breed
  • Serves the growing population and industry
  • Less demand from reclining chemical and steel industries
  •  More reliable and sustainable water supply in England
  • Provides community with opportunity for water storage
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