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<p>Somerset has seen significant investment in recent years and has benefitted from
the formation of the Somerset Rivers Authority partnership. Over £80 million of investment
since 2014 in flood risk interventions helps the Environment Agency better manage
flooding. It allows the Environment Agency to take pre-emptive action to delay the
onset of flooding, to evacuate the waters more effectively. Together this enables
communities to be more resilient and to recover more rapidly from flooding. The below
investment was delivered in 2014/15:</p><ul><li>£6m on dredging, financed by DEFRA,
delivered by the Environment Agency</li><li>£20m on raising roads and drainage improvements
financed by Department of Transport delivered by Somerset County Council</li><li>£20m
on repairing flood damage to assets from Defra Flood defence grant-in-aid</li><li>£13m
on improvements to the Sowy and Kings Sedgemoor Drain from Heart of the South West
Local Enterprise Partnership</li><li>£3.5m on Pumping station extra capacity and improvements
at Aller and Westonzoyland</li><li>£500k improvements to the Parrett and Tone hydraulic
model.</li></ul><p> </p><p>The Environment Agency are continuing to invest in Somerset,
this includes maintaining existing defences and also helping communities to adapt
and become more resilient in the face of a changing climate. Ongoing investment includes:</p><p>
</p><ul><li>Bridgwater Tidal Barrier scheme – investment of over £128m – Operational
barrier by 2026.</li><li>Dunball Sluice refurbishment – total investment of around
£3.6m. Delivery by 2024</li><li>Pumping Station upgrades – Project to invest around
£5.5m. Complete by 2025</li><li>Reservoir improvement investment (public safety) –
Investment Program of £19m – Delivery complete by 2027</li><li>Taunton Strategic Flood
Alleviation Improvements – Council have agreed £6m funding in 3 interventions:</li></ul><p>1.
River Tone left bank defence improvements, Frieze Hill to Town Bridge</p><p>2. Raising
of Firepool lockgate and defences between the River Tone and the Bridgwater to Taunton
Canal (TTC10)</p><p>3. Longrun Meadows - optimising flood water storage.</p><p> </p><p>Communities
in Ilminster, Chard and Minehead are also benefitting from recently approved investment
to help reduce flood risk. The Environment Agency and Somerset Council have secured
funding from the Frequently Flooded Allowance fund to carry out investigative studies
on what future flood risk interventions are required.</p><p> </p>
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