Philip Eden wrote:
The river Lea runs past the bottom of my hill north of Luton town centre,
about 4 or 5 km (or 10km depending on which stream you follow) from
its source. So it's not very big, but it carries an awful lot of urban water
away when it rains and usually floods the A6 after a 30mm downpour.

It first dried out in mid-August, ran for three days after 11mm fell on
22nd August, and for a week after the recent rains which totalled
about 30mm. But it's gone again now. I remember the river being
dry briefly in 1997, 1976, 1964, and I'm told it was in 1959 too.
But never in mid-November.

This is a good indicator of how far the water table in the chalk of the
Chiltern Hills must have dropped ... especially notable because it
follows the unprecedentedly high water table of 2001, and also
bearing in mind that much less water is extracted from the chalk via
artesian wells these days compared with 30 or 40 years ago.

I noticed yesterday that the level of the River Stour has risen
significantly through Canterbury in the past week or so (not looked for
about 10 days). In fact it's risen so much that it now just reaches the
bottom of the height marker stick!

It's not an excellent indicator of the true river level owing to the
plethora of sluices and weirs, but I usually make a point of checking
the level at the height stick on the Causeway and outside Sainsbury's
whenever I pass.

It's worth noting that the level of the river is approximately three to
four feet below what it was this time in 2001 - I'd guess the river's
running about one foot deep at the moment.

Unfortunately, the ducks are now required to swim around and they can't
easily stop for a quick breather in the middle of the river!

Jonathan
Canterbury