WORK to widen one of Somerset’s key drainage channels will begin this month as the Somerset Rivers Authority seeks to use up time-limited funding.

The authority (SRA) was created in 2015 to coordinate county-wide flood prevention efforts in response to the floods of 2012 and 2013/14.

The SRA has been working on a detailed scheme to widen the River Sowy and King’s Sedgemoor Drain, which will allow water to drain downstream towards Bridgwater more quickly and thereby protect Langport and other communities on the Somerset Levels from flooding.

The scheme’s cost has already risen from £8M to £15M, meaning any work to widen the two channels is having to be carried out in stages as funding becomes available.

The SRA has confirmed the first elements of the widening will begin by the end of September as it seeks to use up available funding from the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

Around £3.7M of LEP funding remains at the SRA’s disposal for improvements to the River Sowy and King’s Sedgemoor Drain – but the money has to be spent by 2021.

At a meeting in Williton on September 7, Rachel Burden (project leader for the Environment Agency) updated SRA board members on their progress to date.

She said in her written report: “We have completed work on the A372 Beer Wall culverts and channels, and refurbished Chedzoy Sluice.

“Desilting two bridges on the King’s Sedgemoor Drain is planned for the  autumn, and we anticipate smoothing a concrete obstruction on the lower part of the drain in 2019.”

She confirmed the work being done in these sections “would be the first stage of incremental works towards an ‘end-to-end’ enhancement plan.”

Ms Burden said material excavated from the King’s Sedgemoor Drain would be used to restore “low spots” on its banks, with measures to improve the area’s ecology being carried out at the same time.

The River Sowy will be widened by between one and two metres, though the precise distance which will be widened has not yet been confirmed.

Ms Burden said: “The length of channel covered will be flexible to match funding.

“Every opportunity will be taken to maximise on-site use of materials excavated from the channel.

“The work will result in increased operational flexibility at the start and end of a flood event, and the ability to evacuate flood water more effectively. It will also increase storage capacity within the system.

“The first stage scheme may not provide a constant increase in capacity all along the full Sowy. However, with all the improvements made and to be made (including Parrett dredging), all should experience improved flood management.”

An SRA spokesman has confirmed each aspect of this work would be covered by LEP funding – but was unable to provide a precise breakdown of what each element was expected to cost.

The spokesman said: “Dredging work at Parchey and Dunball is due to start later in September. This work is covered by LEP funding.

“Concrete obstruction work will also be covered by LEP funding.”