River Parrett dredging begins

A lengthy section of the River Parrett is about to be dredged in the following days as part of a wider maintenance program funded by the Somerset Rivers Authority.

“New year, similar dredging: throughout most of January 2026, there’ll be River Parrett dredging between Burrowbridge and Northmoor, with a combination of bankside work being done by excavators and channel work being done by the water injection dredging vessel, the Borr,” Somerset Rivers Authority said.

“Thanks to Somerset Drainage Boards Consortium and the team of Calm Engineering, Van Oord and WM Longreach for organizing and delivering this work which is funded by Somerset Rivers Authority.”

Dredging of the River Parrett downstream of Burrowbridge and the River Tone upstream of Burrowbridge was a key project identified in Somerset’s original 2014 20-Year Flood Action Plan.

Dredging was carried out by the Environment Agency in 2014.

Since 2015, the Parrett Internal Drainage Board has delivered a program of maintenance work to ensure that the channel profile achieved following the 2014 dredge is maintained to maximize conveyance during flood flows.