abstract:The River Parrett flows through the counties of Dorset and Somerset in South West England, from its source in the Thorney Mills springs in the hills around Chedington in Dorset. Flowing northwest through Somerset and the Somerset Levels to its mouth at Burnham-on-Sea, into the Bridgwater Bay Nature Reserve on the Bristol Channel, the Parrett and its tributaries drain an area of – about 50 per cent of Somerset's land area, with a population of 300,000.
In a meeting between the Somerset Consortium of Drainage Boards and the agency, it was agreed that de-silting sections of the river Tone and Parrett "could bring the greatest practical benefit".