Owners of land that backs on to watercourses in Southwell are being called to attend a management meeting.
The meeting aims to help set out a long-term care plan for Southwell’s watercourses in the wake of flooding in July.
Potwell Dyke, which flows through the town, flooded after two months’ rainfall fell in just 30 minutes.
Since the flooding, volunteers have been working with riparian owners, who own land bordering the dyke, to make it fit for purpose.
More than 80 of the riparian owners, who own the land up to the centre of the dyke, have been invited to a watercourse management meeting on Thursday, November 20.
Mr Mark Bertolini, the co-chairman of Southwell Flood Forum, said: “It is clear that Potwell Dyke has been been orphaned and is in need of someone to care for it.
“It is much improved because of the work of the volunteers, but it needs a single body to oversee and maintain the whole watercourse.
“This is done for the main rivers, but smaller watercourses do not have the benefit of a responsible authority.
“We need riparian owners to help. Their property may not have been flooded, but they may hold the key to helping avoid flooding elsewhere.”
The flood forum wants all riparian owners to sign up for Environment Agency flood alerts so they can open or close sluice-gates, remove anything that might be carried away and cause a blockage, as well as securing their own property.
Environmental scientists from Nottingham Trent University are installing gauges in watercourses as part of a study that it is hoped will lead to solutions for flood mitigation projects.
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