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Wow! You lucky lucky thing!

Good luck. I am sure you will be fine...I think a polytunnel would be one of my first ports of call, so that you are ready to get a head start in spring.

Hi

We have a field with a River (The Tamar)that floods into the house, but only badly once in thirty years. What I have found is that the animals that live in the banks burrow allot of the soil away and it "sinks"

Buttercup type stuff thrives and grass dies, which with it's low water table etc would mean that animals would not be ideal.

Work on the other bits first and leave this till last, you will probably find the answer will come after a few months/years.

If you put in a wall, consider a "sump & Pump" the house side, just in case it breaches the wall, with a decent pump it may "save" the day.(They use this system in Sea Side Lido's where tides can often endanger the Pump rooms)

Ah, so you're in Cornwall, boboff. Maybe you could put that in your personal info. It's always so nice to have an idea of where people live - we're a global outfit dontcha know

You too Bonnie!

And anyone else - it's alright we won't visit (well not without a personal invite anyway ).

hi
we have a stream that can flood but the house is 10m above it - but all our main growing areas are in the valley.

you asked about books...I don't know if High F-W river floods but I think Mony Donn's does and has the stress of "will it get to the house!" You should be able to look at the building and see if it has flooded recently. Remember architects aren't engineers - anything serious like this might need more specialist adavice, like is it built on a raft, on bed rock or clay!

You said also that you might be interested in permaculture - the main rule would be first do the observastion. Watch what the river does especially. I would dig a series of holes to see where the water table is and how it rises. Also in permaculture the solution is in the problem. A water logged area is good for some things - "geothermic" heating (heat transfer from the ground with an electric reversed fridge!). Water logged sites take a long time to warm up in the spring but are self fertalising and usually silt. Is it in shadow etc

Fruit trees don't like cold water logged roots and do not like frost hollows. Water cress is great but needs running water for the second growing stage in spring and look out for sheep up stream (liverfluke).

I agree with boboff and say take you time on this on - don't waste money or do any thing like walls - you could really go down the wrong road.