Why does part of The Salts always flood, even when there’s been no rain asks Rodney Booth.
Having walked the footpath between Rye Bowls Club and the new orchard I’m worried about the continuing flood of sea water escaping onto The Salts.
This small area always floods during high tides killing the grass and preventing the general public from using this area. I’m also concerned this water could kill the freshly planted trees. There has been a lot of hard work by community-spirited people completing this new orchard and it would be such a shame if their efforts were in vain.
When I was involved with Rye United Football Club on the Cricket Salts we had a similar issue just in front of the five bar gate that leads onto the field. It repeatedly flooded at high tide through a manhole cover and killed a vast area of the grass.
Is this a similar issue? Is water coming through a gate valve at Simmons Quay and are they being maintained properly? If not where is the water coming from?
My pictures were taken on 17 June.
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Image Credits: Rodney Booth .
If I believe correctly there was some out let or pipe with a closure flap ,that was roughly adjacent the area that floods in sea water ,it should only work one way so if not properly maintained would allow the seawater to contaminate that area of the salts , When we played football on those salts that area would seem to flood . Especially at high tide time. I am sure that my Dad ( Len ) who was a fountain of knowledge to do with drainage on the Marsh etc, told me about the flap.He worked on the Water board nearly all his life ,Sadly local knowledge was not always listened to especially when it became the Southern water and then the environment agency .
I suggest that you contact Helena Dollimore MP helena.dollimore.mp@parliament.uk who will do almost anything for a “photo-op”.
I’m fairly sure that this problem is nothing to do with Southern Water but it should be an Environment Agency concern and Ms Dollimore should be able to bring pressure to bear on them.
Hope that helps.
The house where I live is built over sandstone. Frequently, a spring will seep through the cement flooring of the garage and on parts of the drive, especially after heavy rain… and never precisely in the same spot.
We have been in touch with the Environment Agency – it deals with all main river flood risk – about this surface water ponding. It is almost certain to be a faulty “egress flap” on a town drain routed to the Quay, which is not closing properly and allowing water to back up at high tides. There is a drain cover at the ponding site – visible in the photos – through which water is escaping. Time for another go at the Agency.
Anthony Kimber
REACT
What is most likely happening is that at high tide salt water is raising the freshwater water table. This is a normal, natural event and unlikely to cause harm as the raised water is not salty. You can’t expect the earth riverbanks to be totally impervious.
Thanks Rodney for highlighting this issue which had been going on for a long while. It’s definitely due to the closure flap at the river being stuck open causing the storm drain to back up on full moon tides. Rye Community Orchard and also the Bowls Club have been asking the EA and RDC to get it fixed but we’ve not been given any timeframe. Perhaps this article will move it forward. Fortunately the trees are all growing very well, not yet 18 months in the ground but residents and visitors use of this pleasant area gets severely impacted by the flooding.
I was led to believe that an outlet from the river had been left open for many years resulting in the Salts suffering an ingress of sea water on exceptional high tides.