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It cannot have escaped anybody's notice that incidents of flash flooding have increased in recent years.

Is that because we are having more rain? No, we do not believe so.

Is it because ditches and drains have been poorly maintained? We have no doubt that that is the case.

Among all the floods caused by rising river levels in the summer, it is almost forgotten that some of the worst flooding was flash flooding.

It was there for a few hours when the rain fell torrentially and gone a few hours later. Potentially, it is no less damaging than the catastrophic floods caused by rising river levels.

We have said before that we need a more co-ordinated approach to the maintenance of ditches and drains. There is a multitude of ownerships and responsibilities that often mean nothing gets done.

We know of roads where ditches come to an abrupt end, leading to water spilling torrent-like into the road, only to disappear further downstream when a ditch reappears.

What we need is one agency to monitor and enforce the regular upkeep of ditches and drains. Without that, we foresee the continuing deterioration of our drains and ditches and more flooding.

3:28pm Wednesday 19th March 2008

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