New White Paper on Shaping England awaits your comments...Visit http://ww2.de fra.gov.uk/our-responsibilities/nat-environment/

The new White Paper on Shaping the Natural Environment in England awaits your comments.

What matters to you most? Are you running a small business, or are you a commuter?
Do you live in a suburban area? Is the protection of the rural fringe important to you?
Would you like to see more trees planted in your local park? More biodiversity and wildlife protection? Perhaps you would like to have greater access to the countryside near you?
Do you think that flood protection measures are sufficient in your area? Are SUDs being implemented and encouraged by your local authority?
Whatever your burning issue is regarding the environment, whatever your landscape needs and ideas, the government would like to hear from you! So, follow the link above and have your say today...
the New White Paper awaits your comments...

http://ww2.de fra.gov.uk/our-responsibilities/nat-environment/

How to minimise and slow water flow rates thus reducing flooding

“How to minimise and slow water flow rates thus reducing flooding by use of ecological planting and sustainable urban design techniques in the landscape.”

As Britain braces itself for more wet weather in December, the high rain fall levels last week which led to flooding in Cumbria lead us to ask again; how can we minimise and slow water flow rates thus reducing flooding by use of ecological planting and sustainable urban design techniques in the landscape?

The high rainfall which caused the flooding last week in Cockermouth, Cumbria, was so extreme that the Environment Agency said that a flooding event was likely to happen only once in 1,000 years. However with the El Nino effect, this once in a 1,000 year rainfall event may become increasingly common in Britain and elsewhere, in wet months, when high rainfall continues to fall on already saturated ground. We really do need to press on with the implementation of recommendations as set out by The Pitt report.

Floods are notoriously difficult to predict, for meteorological and earth science reasons. Sheer scale of human tragedy and loss, plus millions of pounds worth of damage, mean that modelling firms must continue to work apace to search for ways of accurately predicting floods.

However, we must also seek swift and widespread landscape design and ecologically sound landscape management solutions to flood alleviation.
1) We will need to start planting more trees, in river catchment areas, such as the Cumbrian hills. We all need to contemplate planting more trees where space allows, as this will help to slow rainwater flow rates, giving more time to react to flooding- saving lives.
2) Woodlands should be actively managed and schemes integrated into flood management.
3) Deciduous trees are best as their leaf litter helps to absorb the rainfall and this helps to slow surface water flow rates following high rainfall, thus lowering the incidence of flooding.
4) We need to increase water storage on upland areas, rather than drain these areas too quickly as has been done in the past (where drains placed in Victorian times still hasten the flow of water from upland areas for historically traditional land management practices such as grazing by sheep.)
5) Designing large lakes and ponds and SUDs for upland areas and river catchments with high rainfall and other areas with a propensity towards flooding would help.
6) Designing flood alleviation schemes in flood risk areas should continue.
7) All new parking areas and housing hard surfacing must be designed to be permeable, so that water flow rates are slowed, minimising flooding in neighbouring areas downstream.
8) Convert impermeable hard surfacing into permeable surfacing.

Rainfall on this occasion was unusually high;“the highest level measured in England since records began.” (The Times, Nov 21st, 2009) “Meteorologists recorded 314mm (12in) of rain in 24 hours”; the rainfall was also widespread;“ flood warnings remained in place across North West of England, parts of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland;” (The Times, 21st Nov 2009

Professional, pragmatic and innovative skills and research continue to be required to help to produce practical solutions to minimise and slow water flow rates thus reducing flooding. Planting and sustainable urban design techniques can help to minimise flooding due to high rainfall events. For more information visit our flooding web page http://www.landvision.co.uk/services_flooding.html

Use "grey water" not mains or "green"-Rainwater Harvesting systems and reduced CO2 emissions..

Use "grey water" not mains or "green"- rainwater harvesting and reduced CO2 emissions.

Dr Colin Green of Middlesex University points out that global warming causes increased variability of rainfall. (Pers. comm.)This impinges on water availability and in the driest regions this means increased water stress and shortages. South East England is under water stress already, with little rain in the last 8 weeks (since August.) Globally the picture is far worse, with desert conditions and droughts extending in extent and severity to cause serious food shortages.

In the UK, we use 500 litres of water a day per family, average personal use of water is 150 litres per person day, but this varies from 75-400 litres p/day. (Cath Hassell, Ech2o)
So, how can we act smart when water is in shorter supply?
How can our reduction in mains supply water also slow down global warming?

Firstly, we can prioritise water efficiency.
Second, we can reduce our water demands and thereby reduce water stress in dry periods.
Thirdly, use of mains water and the use of mains hot water are both linked to carbon emissions and global warming. How? More than 5% of greenhouse emissions are associated with the heating of water for showers and baths. Water is 5 times harder than granite to warm up, so if you leave the hot water tap running or have a leaky tap you are wasting water and energy. It takes 0.7 kg of CO2 emissions per 1m3 of mains water used. Worse still, it takes a massive 10 times that amount of CO2 though if you use 1m3 of hot water. (Jacob Tompkins,Waterwise.)
So, reduce hot water use and you cut your bills and CO2 emissions.
How?
1) Do you heat your bathroom by running a hot shower? Don’t- its wasteful in both water and energy terms and it increases CO2 emissions .
2) Understand how your water system works. Be curious.
3) Have a meter installed. Meters installed inside houses show up underground water leaks and you can then mend these quickly (Jacob Tompkins, Waterwise.)We only have 30% water metering in England; this is way behind Germany and other European countries.
3) Consider retro fitting dual flush toilets and slow flow showers.
4) Replace showers with fast water flow rates for showers with slower rates (less wasteful and less expensive to run.)Replace inefficient taps (- why have inefficient taps anyway?)
5)Use “grey water” instead of mains water for toilet flushing and garden irrigation.
What is “grey water”? It’s recycled rain water collected from roofs and gutters and channelled into water butts and rainwater harvesting tanks. Install several water butts.
You can collect all the grey water you need for your garden – that way you won’t need to use “green” (cleansed and pumped) mains tap water for irrigation and garden watering or for flushing toilets.
“Grey water” collected from water butts and rainwater harvesting tanks are sufficient for garden watering. This helps relieve water shortages and water demand at peak times of drought.
5) Next time you re plan/build an extension/ undertake any changes to your house/your office add a rainwater harvesting tank and pump. Creative landscape design can disguise this.
So, intelligent water use can save you money on your mains/fresh water bills and on your waste water bills. It will also help water attenuation, slow and reduce storm water flows, reducing flooding. Plus, you gain your very own water source for the garden and flushing toilets. What could be better than that?
We waste 150 litres of water per day. 1/3 of our green water is used for flushing down toilets – when grey water could do that job. 1/3 is used for showers and baths; 1/3 is used for washing machines and dishwashers. Next time you flush your loo, think about “grey water”.

Soil carbon’s role; CO2 emission & flood alleviation.

Soil carbon’s role; CO2 emission & flood alleviation.

Peter Smith of Aberdeen University has found that we can reduce CO2 emissions by 30% if we add more carbon to the soil. What is soil carbon?
Dr Julia Cooper of UEA describes carbon sugars; readily available to plants in the soil, as well as soil fauna and flora, flesh, plant residues, fresh manure, all forms readily absorbed by growing plants. Then there is mature plant residue carbon, well composted manure and peat; this is more stable. Finally there is biochar, black carbon, eg charcoal. This can take thousands of years to be taken up by living plants. So, each type of carbon varies in its ability to be taken up, the rate at which plants can absorb it and in its stability.

Why should we care about soil carbon?
How is it important in climate change and slowing global warming?
Despite tendency of soils to reach equilibrium of carbon levels, there is still ample room for many soils to accept and store more carbon. Soils that have been well managed for years tend to have higher levels of carbon stored in them, but there is room for improvement, especially on other less well managed soils, or soils that have been regularly cropped as arable, and not put down to ley grassland or protected by management as woodland. More carbon stored means less CO2 released into the atmosphere- thus slowing global warming.

Not only will increasing the carbon stores in the soil be good in reducing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, it is also proven that increased organic matter in the soil replenishes the nutrient balance and restores soil structure.

Why is this improving soil structure important?

Improving carbon levels and improving the structure of the soil creates a stable equilibrium in soils, with less soil erosion, less runoff and thus less flooding – soil carbon and organic matter acts like a sponge, soaking up water and retaining the nutrients in the soil. This combats flooding, as increased organic matter types of soil carbon slows water runoff rates, increases soil ground water infiltration as well as slowing global warming.

If we add organic matter to the soil, we can greatly increase the general health of the soil, one effect is encouragement of mycorrhizal fungi. These fungi increase plants’ nutrient uptake (especially of phosphorus). This helps to protect the plant from pathogens and also encourages healthy growth, with increased yields.

So, what kinds of carbon can we add to the soil? Adding a full diversity of different kinds of carbon to the soil is important. Slowly available carbon such as mature plant residues in the form of recycled, well composted Greenwaste, plus also adding some of the more stable forms of black carbon or biochar, will improve soil structure, plus soil and plant health.

Overall ecosystem health-Adding recycled Greenwaste to soil as an improver and a mulch, minimises the amount of greenwaste going into landfill, as well as having the potential of slowing global warming by reducing CO2 emisssions by 30%. Research shows that adding soil organic matter prevents and minimises the effects of soil erosion and flooding. We have a responsibility to safeguard and improve the soils of the world for our children and their children, so that they will be in a better position to tackle effects of climate change. At Landvision, we will continue our long standing practice of use of recycled Greenwaste as a mulch and soil improver on all landscape schemes; improving soil structure and plant health whilst lessening CO2 emissions & the effects of flooding.