Abstract
THE recent floods in the Midlands, with their resultant enormous material damage and, in one or two localities, regrettable loss of life, have again directed public attention to one of the most serious and difficult problems connected with the efficient drainage of inland districts, namely, the regulation of river flow. Rivers, as a class, are notoriously erratic in their behaviour. Sometimes, in seasons of prolonged drought, they scarcely provide sufficient water for the minimum requirements of trade and agriculture; at others, they transform themselves into raging torrents sweeping everything before them in an orgy of havoc and ruin. The control of such violent natural forces is an essential duty of civilised communities, in the interests not only of farming and transport but also of public safety. It is characteristic, however, of British methods, that, hitherto, there has been no properly organised or systematic study of the range and extent of river floods, and no national or authoritative collection of stream-flow data upon which reliance could be placed for a scientific investigation of their incidence. Certain important bodies (few in number), such as the Thames Conservancy, have carefully maintained an efficient service of river gaugings the records at Teddington Weir are admirable but, generally speaking, Conservancy Boards have had few or no resources available for expenditure of this kind. It is quite true, also, that, in a number of instances, individual initiative has set on foot the compilation of local data and the taking of observations which, within their limitations, are, no doubt, capable of affording much serviceable information, but these efforts are regrettably spasmodic, and, unless carried on under supervision of unimpeachable reliability, call for careful scrutiny and independent confirmation.
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River Gauging and Flood Prevention. Nature 130, 1–3 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/130001a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/130001a0