FLOODING AND MIDLAND BOGS

Sir, Over the past few years, flooding has become an annual occurrence in many areas

Sir, Over the past few years, flooding has become an annual occurrence in many areas. To find the cause, we need look no further than the drainage of the bogs.

Until recently the Midlands were covered with raised bogs, in effect great sponges that would absorb the heavy rains of winter, releasing the water down the river systems in a controlled manner. Now the drainage and cutting of these natural sumps has destroyed this regulation, resulting in flooding after heavy rain in the lower reaches of the rivers that drain the Midland basin, as the rainwater falling on thousands of acres runs straight off.

The solution must be the controlled blockage of the drains in what remains of the raised bogs, band allowing the bog to regenerate. Otherwise we will end up with infertile deserts in the Midlands, subject to seasonal Droughts, while floods will become the norm in the valleys of all the river systems that originate con the Midland plain. Yours, etc., Seatown Place, Dundalk.