THE RIVER TRENT CATCHMENT BOARD 91 



by a series of locks, extends as far as Sawley, a distance of 92 miles from 

 the outfall, although a short length of the river, from Trent Bridge to 

 Beeston Lock, is unnavigable and boats have to pass from one reach to 

 the other via the Beeston Canal. Many weirs span the rivers in the upper 

 reaches and serve mills for industrial purposes. 



The Land Drainage Act of 1930 



The control of the main rivers from a land drainage point of view is 

 in the hands of the River Trent Catchment Board which was set up under 

 the Land Drainage Act of 1930 and commenced active duties in October 

 1931. The powers and duties of this and other Catchment Boards are 

 set out in the Act and need only be referred to very briefly in this Article. 

 The chief powers of the Board in respect of the ' main river ' are set out 

 below under three heads, ' main river ' meaning the lengths of waterways 

 of a total of 570 miles designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries to be under the direct jurisdiction of the Catchment Board. 



(a) To maintain existing works (i.e. to cleanse, repair or otherwise main- 

 tain in a due state of efficiency any existing watercourse or drainage 

 works). 



(b) To improve any existing works (i.e. to deepen, widen, straighten or 

 otherwise improve any existing watercourse or remove mill, dam, 

 weir or other obstructions to watercourses or raise, widen or other- 

 wise improve any existing drainage work). 



(cl To construct new works (i.e. to make any new watercourse or drain- 

 age work or erect any machinery or do any other act required for 

 the drainage of the area comprised within the drainage district). 

 The Act interprets ' drainage ' as including defence against water, irri- 

 gation, warping and the supply of water. The Catchment Board's activi- 

 ties, therefore, are by no means solely concerned with the voiding of 

 flood waters to the sea and alleviating flooding, but are also directed to 

 the conservancy of river water for all riparian interests, of which Agri- 

 culture and Industry are probably the most important. 



The Work of the River Trent Catchment Board 



Prior to the setting up of the Catchment Board, there was very little 

 data available except in respect of certain levels in the navigation reach, 

 but the May 1932 flood, which was of exceptional severity, fortuitously 

 off"ered a means of obtaining much useful information upon which 

 schemes for flood alleviation could be formulated. This flood resulted in 

 some 150,000 acres of land including many urban districts, such as West 

 Bridgford, Long Eaton, Tamworth and Nuneaton becoming submerged, 

 whilst the total area which can be said to have been affected by the flood 

 was approximately 374,000 acres. 



It was early apparent that much pioneer work required to be carried 

 out before any comprehensive flood alleviation schemes could be con- 

 sidered and the first practical work of the Board comprised tree clearing, 

 removal of shoals and the reinstatement of flood banks of all main rivers 

 on an extensive scale. No less than 350 miles of rivers were cleared of 

 obstructive trees for instance; and the result of this pioneer work has 



