Decision Making how will we manage the Essex coastline?

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Decision Making – how will we manage the Essex coastline?

In February 1953 disaster struck Essex. The North Sea flood, a combination of high spring tide and a severe wind storm caused a storm surge. With the tidal surge of the North Sea the water level locally exceeded 5.6 meters. The flood and waves overwhelmed sea defences and caused extensive flooding. Essex, an area hit by subsidence and sea level rise relies highly upon sea defences. Most of the casualties occurred in the province of Jaywick, in Essex 307 people were killed and 22,000 made homeless. This flood also hit the Netherlands, which suffered 1,800 deaths. As subsidence and sea level rise grow worse due to global warming, there is a large chance that Essex if hit by a storm surge again will be very vulnerable. Essex is made especially defenceless as it has also been hit had by isostasy. And this is why I eager you to make a decision upon who we will defend our Essex coastline.

There are several areas in Essex becoming increasingly susceptible to flooding. In order to protect these areas action must be taken. This plan provides a long term strategic view on how the balance between losses and gains to Essex can be maintained in the light of rising sea levels, and the flood defence response to it. The plan concludes that Essex cannot be maintained in its present form. Maintaining the present levels of flood defences will lead to loss of significant areas of salt marsh by 2050. The present strategy was developed to look at the economic viability of the existing defences within each of a series of sectors of shoreline, to address the environmental issues. With sea levels expected to rise over the next 100 years, and with areas of land behind the current defences several meters lower than the normal high water, steps must be taken to ensure that the response to change in the risk of flooding is appropriate. The production of a flood management strategy will enable us to manage the potential impacts that natural change will bring and also allow opportunities associated with such change to be identified at a strategic level.

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There are five main management options available to Essex.

  • Option one provides that nothing should be done. Thus allowing the land to erode away. However, this option would be very unsustainable, and in the long term will mean extensive land loss.

  • Option two provides for the decision to deliberately allow parts of the coastline to be allowed to flood or be eroded. This has already taken place in Tollesbury (Essex), and was the first large scale managed realignment attempt in the UK. This would be sacrificial, as the few would ...

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The 'eager you to make a decision' does not sound right. Minor spelling mistakes and grammar errors present, but otherwise, spelling, grammar and punctuation are all to an okay level. Clear paragraphing and structures are used.

The introduction is good as it outlines why flood defences are a special consideration in Essex and the impact that flooding has had on the coastline beforehand. The candidate goes on to outline why they have concluded that the present flood defence is not adequate and how they will manage this in the long term which is done to a very high level. They present the problems and what should be done about it. I would have liked to have seen short term action, and a consideration of the economic costs of each operation and the cost to wildlife as these are major considerations for food defences. The candidate displays consideration of each option to a limited degree by only suggesting simple cons behind each one, and the diagrams do not really help because they are limited in what they show. The candidate does include the impact of generic decisions on the people which shows some consideration of the wider geographical impacts and this is analysed to a high level and provides a conclusion that is adequate taking into accounts the peoples view on what should be done.

Response to the question is done well. The candidate shows good analysis, research and consideration of a wide range of flood defences, the impact they may have on the people and in light of this the best decision. The candidate lacks thorough analysis, and could include a wider range of flood defences to consider, and should also consider economical impacts that each decision may have within a budget.