Tackling the Severn estuary silt issue

摘要

The recent correspondence on silt in the Severn River initiated by Rob Kirby is timely in view of the plan, recently presented in a blaze of publicity, to build a Swansea lagoon along the estuary rather than a barrage across the Severn. While lagoons may be appealing to unduly cautious bureaucrats, short-termist politicians and non-government organisations with little interest in the practicalities of electricity generation, they will be of very limited significance to the nation since a Swansea lagoon would generate only 2.5% of the power of a barrage -while still requiring a concrete wall of at least half the length of a barrage across the river.