A couple of items back, entitled Environmental Hazard I bemoaned the inadequacy and lack of understanding and foresight of my local council when it comes to environmental issues and basic country husbandry. Now, as my wife pointed out on our dog walk this morning, there seems something even more worrying afoot.

Living on the very edge of the Fens one is used to the dykes and ditches that drain the water from the higher ground to the west, across the flat and reclaimed land until it reaches the sea. Love the Fens or loathe them, one has to admire the engineering and effort that went into draining this swamp to make it the fertile land it is today, precariously balanced around sea-level, with much of it below. My own house is only a foot or two above sea-level and we are surrounded by the dykes that keep out the flood water. On top of that, my village is blessed with a flood plain which starts, basically, at my door but has been put to good use once or twice since we have lived here.

Of course, all of this system only works – as it has done for a couple of centuries – by keeping the dykes and ditches in good order, ensuring that the relentless flow of water remains unobstructed. Every year the enormous and costly task of dredging the dykes takes place, a necessity to keep this vast area of reclaimed land available.

Except, of course, we haven’t seen any evidence of dredging going on for quite a while now. And the ditches that feed into the dykes, taking the local water away, are slowly becoming overgrown and obstructed. In short – it is an environmental disaster waiting to happen. Not this year and probably not next. But inevitable all the same. And as I live right beside the flood plain, which may soon have to cope with more water than it was cannily designed for, it’s just one more reason to move house.