Floods

Flooding is a pretty serious issue at the moment, and our sympathy goes out to anyone suffering as a result of the terrible floods that have hit so much of the country. While the extent of the damage is catastrophic for some, it is not entirely unexpected. At this time of year very heavy rains have been the norm for some time now, and if the climate change predictions are right, things will get worse in the coming decades, with winter rainfall in this part of the country predicted to rise by about 20% by the middle of the century. More reasons to re-evaluate how we live and what we can do to reduce our carbon footprints.

Needless to say, flooding per se is not necessarily a bad thing. It has a positive role to play in shaping and managing the natural world. At present Cabragh Wetlands has put on her winter clothes. The swollen River Suir and the Killough stream, following lines of least resistance, are pouring water into Cabragh Wetlands. In a matter of days the landscape has been transformed from a place with a variety of foliage to a watery landscape with sparse clumps of protruding vegetation.

As is the way of nature, the availability of food generally coincides with the arrival of waders from the North to join our resident birds. Waders like greylag geese, whooper swans, wigeon, teal, and mallard duck, lapwing and curlew can be heard singing excitedly in their watery abodes. The source of their excitement is the emergence of food. A large variety of invertebrates, which happily reside in the ground during the summer, are flushed out by the autumn floods. Snails, beetles, earthworms and a huge range of insects now become a valuable food source for arriving waders, as well as the resident bird population.

Wetlands are part of the landscape and fulfil a variety of important functions. They act as a sponge to absorb huge quantities of water during heavy rains and then release it in a slow controlled way. They act as a filtration system for water, purifying and restoring to good health the water that passes through. A variety of fauna living in a wetland habitat actually pump oxygen into their roots to support the bacteria; this oxygenates the water. Reed bed systems are increasingly being used to purify waste water from houses and farms.

Wetlands act as a carbon sink by storing in the vegetation huge quantities of carbon, which otherwise would be stored in the atmosphere adding to the greenhouse effect. Wetlands actually contain up to fifty times more bio-diversity than ‘good land’. This in turn attracts a corresponding amount of insects, birds and wild creatures.

The floods carry with them welcome loads of sediment which settles in to fertilise the wetland for the new growth that will emerge next Spring. So as the wetland takes on its winter appearance, it is fulfilling its cycle of life and sustaining huge populations of flora and fauna. We can enjoy the life they sustain and appreciate the role they play in sustaining life on Earth.