I read the report 'Dredge effort washed away' (Gazette, January 28).

Since the publicity over the Somerset Levels, dredging has become something of a cause celebre among critics of river management bodies. However, removal of material from the river is not demanded or even necessary at every point of its course.

The material below Stramongate weir collects there because the river loses forward energy at that point - it widens, and turbulence further removes the ability of the river to push sediment downstream. This accumulation does raise the bed at that point.

However, this effect is local to the weir. By banking the material up in preparation for removal, the next high water was able to push it on downstream. There is no equivalent collecting point lower down within town - because the course has been straightened, the river has sufficient forward energy to move the material all the way out of town.

This process goes on unnoticed all year round. Tons and tons of rock and rubble from the fells rumbles unnoticed through town towards the lower reaches. Even accumulation zones - meanders and weirs - do not fill up indefinitely. The lower river is undredged; the bed is cleared by the river itself.

I would invite critics to try to locate this material now. As far as I can see, the EA has provided a cost saving, and avoided the problem of disposal. It may have been an inadvertent disposal strategy, but it does not seem wholly without merit for the future.

Allan Miller

Sedgwick