Chapter 5
Governing for Drought and Water
Scarcity in the Context of Flood Disaster
Recovery: The Curious Case of Somerset,
United Kingdom
Alison L. Browne, Steve Dury, Cheryl de Boer, Isabelle la Jeunesse
and Ulf Stein
5.1 Introduction to Somerset, UK: The Land
of the Summer People
Historically, flooding has dominated the physical and political landscape of
Somerset, UK. Somerset has been known throughout history as ‘the land of the
summer people’ with the floodplain only being used in the summer, due to its
seasonal winter flooding. One of the unique features of this region is the Somerset
Levels and Moors—a highly managed river and wetlands system, which is artificially drained and irrigated in order to open the area for productive settlement and
uses such as farming. These water management systems extend back to the time of
A.L. Browne (&)
Geography/Sustainable Consumption Institute, University of Manchester, Rm 1.026 Level 1
Arthur Lewis Building, Manchester M139PL, UK
e-mail: alison.browne@manchester.ac.uk
S. Dury
Community Infrastructure, Somerset County Council, County Hall, PP B2E 2A, Taunton,
Somerset TA14DY, UK
e-mail: sdury@somerset.gov.uk
C. de Boer
Faculty of Geoinformation Science and Earth Observation, ITC, University of Twente,
Drienerweg 99, Enschede 7522ES, Netherlands
e-mail: c.deboer@utwente.nl
I. la Jeunesse
UMR CNRS CITERES, University of Tours, Maison Des Sciences de L’homme, 33 allée
Ferdinand de Lesseps, 30 204 Tours, France
e-mail: isabelle.lajeunesse@univ_tours.fr
U. Stein
Ecologic Institute, Pfalzburger Str. 43-44, 10717 Berlin, Germany
e-mail: ulf.stein@ecologic.eu
© The Author(s) 2016
H. Bressers et al. (eds.), Governance for Drought Resilience,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-29671-5_5
83
Governing for Drought and Water
Scarcity in the Context of Flood Disaster
Recovery: The Curious Case of Somerset,
United Kingdom
Alison L. Browne, Steve Dury, Cheryl de Boer, Isabelle la Jeunesse
and Ulf Stein
5.1 Introduction to Somerset, UK: The Land
of the Summer People
Historically, flooding has dominated the physical and political landscape of
Somerset, UK. Somerset has been known throughout history as ‘the land of the
summer people’ with the floodplain only being used in the summer, due to its
seasonal winter flooding. One of the unique features of this region is the Somerset
Levels and Moors—a highly managed river and wetlands system, which is artificially drained and irrigated in order to open the area for productive settlement and
uses such as farming. These water management systems extend back to the time of
A.L. Browne (&)
Geography/Sustainable Consumption Institute, University of Manchester, Rm 1.026 Level 1
Arthur Lewis Building, Manchester M139PL, UK
e-mail: alison.browne@manchester.ac.uk
S. Dury
Community Infrastructure, Somerset County Council, County Hall, PP B2E 2A, Taunton,
Somerset TA14DY, UK
e-mail: sdury@somerset.gov.uk
C. de Boer
Faculty of Geoinformation Science and Earth Observation, ITC, University of Twente,
Drienerweg 99, Enschede 7522ES, Netherlands
e-mail: c.deboer@utwente.nl
I. la Jeunesse
UMR CNRS CITERES, University of Tours, Maison Des Sciences de L’homme, 33 allée
Ferdinand de Lesseps, 30 204 Tours, France
e-mail: isabelle.lajeunesse@univ_tours.fr
U. Stein
Ecologic Institute, Pfalzburger Str. 43-44, 10717 Berlin, Germany
e-mail: ulf.stein@ecologic.eu
© The Author(s) 2016
H. Bressers et al. (eds.), Governance for Drought Resilience,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-29671-5_5
83