Letter: Remember one man's drain is another man's flood

That weather events are getting more extreme - droughts, followed by storms and floods - is clear to all, particularly to farmers.

The changing weather patterns are exactly what climate science has been predicting for years - drier summers and wetter winters, with more storms and extreme events.

Farming is the worst affected by climate change, so it’s not surprising that food prices are rising much faster than most other things.

Take a look back at past Powys floods in pictures here.

The wealthy can move to higher ground, and can bulk buy food supplies, but the rest of us can’t.

We can’t turn the clock back, but we can and must adapt to the changing climate and, if we care about a liveable future, do everything we can - as individuals, communities and nations - to stop things getting far worse.

There is much that can be done to reduce flood risk and alleviate drought by means of relatively easy and inexpensive modifications to land management.

The old adage in farming that one man’s drain is another man’s flood is more pertinent than ever.

The problem is the sheer volume of water that falls in wet spells - no amount of drainage or dredging can do anything other than move a little of it a short distance downstream.

We need to increase the capacity of the land to hold water and release it slowly throughout the year - effectively using the whole river catchment as a natural reservoir.

That entails reversing some of the practises of recent decades - make nature work for us, not try to overcome it.

There are many ways this can be done - from restoring peatlands, planting trees and “rewilding” rivers.

None of this needs mega buck spending, nor will this reduce food production - the opposite in fact.

Patrick Adams

Trefeglwys