Can we prevent a repeat of the disastrous floods that hit south-west England last winter – and keep both farmers and conservationists sweet at the same time?
FROM the top of the hill, the Somerset Levels appear green and calm. Rain clouds scud across the summer sky as we look out at the rivers Parrett and Tone, snaking over the flat land in thin threads.
It is August and the rivers are safe within their banks. "Six months ago, this view was rather different," says Richard Bradford, an ecologist who has worked here for 20 years.
Last winter, both rivers burst their banks, flooding more than 120 square kilometres of this low-lying coastal plain. At one point, the Levels contained 100 million cubic metres of water, according to the UK's Environment ...
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