YOU and your publication have very kindly given our campaign for flood defences for Hereford very good publicity for which I thank you.

Following the visit of our committee to the Minister for the Environment, it is now obvious the provision of any flood defence scheme for Hereford City will not come to fruition until at least 2008 or 2009 at the earliest. In the interim we have to have in place some sort of alleviation. You and your readers may well remember my call for better management of the dams in the Elan Valley as a way of reducing the effect of flooding in Herefordshire.

For the past five years I have been calling for a space to be left in the dams during the winter to reduce the amount of water which enters into the Wye. The response from Severn Trent, Welsh Water and the Environment Agency regarding the operation of the dams, is that the dams account for only 10% of the catchment area of the Wye. This may be true, but recent events tend to show that probably 50% of rainfall that affects the Wye falls in that area.

At the end of October, according to Environment Agency and the operators, the dams were 40% full and in December talk from the EA and dam management was of an application to reduce, as a result of the 2003 situation the 2004 extraction allowance, which requires the dam operators to release a set amount into the Wye at times of reduced level in the river.

At the beginning of January the weather forecaster on Midlands Today informed us the Elan Valley Dams were 88% full, which was some 7% less than the operating company would like to have at this time, they would be looking for 95% although they have claimed legally they should be looking at 100%.

Two weeks later on January 15 we were informed by the same presenter the dams were now full. Within 24 hours the Wye at Hereford was almost 50% higher than it has been at any time throughout this winter. From this we can take it that with a near average rainfall the dams can be re-instated from 40% to full in some 10 or 11 weeks and that once full, rainfall which would not be considered a problem while the dams are still filling, becomes a very serious problem for the City of Hereford.

There are many aspects to flooding in Hereford which are too detailed to go into here but basically if the dams were provided with space to absorb rainfall during heavy precipitation and this was released at a later date, it would alleviate the problem.

Much of our problem relates to commercial greed. The companies that operate the dams are there to make a profit; any claim from them that they cannot reduce the levels within the dams to produce a flood free Herefordshire is seriously flawed.

The dam management is currently looking at additional fundraisers. One is to sell on surplus water to other water companies and in 1996, when you and I thought we were experiencing a drought, the surplus content of the dams was being sold to a Yorkshire water company. Although it is claimed water cannot be released from the dams because of some ancient legislation, the dam operators have installed "green generators" which produce high priced electricity for the National Grid. These were in operation throughout 2003, even during the "drought" - I have photographic evidence.

I call on local MPs and councillors to start to challenge the water companies and Environment Agency as to the validity of their claims and to press the Government to change the legislation around the dams and which is used as an excuse for inaction by those who should know better.

I also call on Herefordshire Council to improve the flow of the Wye through Hereford by reducing the restrictions at the Old Wye Bridge and the Eign Railway Bridge and reinstating the original depth of the river through Hereford.

Before anyone starts shouting about cost it is likely much of this can be covered by selling on gravel and other soil recovered.

Bill Adamson,

Secretary Hereford Campaign For Flood Defences.