The Mole Story

The Mole Story

A website about the River Mole in Surrey, South East England. Associated with River Mole River Watch.

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  • Mandatory SuDs for England!

    Good news today regarding SuDS, stormwater management, storm overflows, flood risk and pollution. Mandatory SuDS are coming to England. Developers will no longer have an automatic right to connect stormwater to the sewer but will be required to have sustainable drainage systems approved from a SuDs approval body before starting any construction work that has…

    sirgeogy

    January 10, 2023
    Analysis
  • News! Real-Time storm discharge data now available from Thames Water

    News! Real-Time storm discharge data now available from Thames Water

    Some significant news on river pollution! Thames Water have today 4/01/2023 released a “live” map showing near real-time data on storm discharges at their sewage treatment plants. This is useful to identify how often and how long storm overflows occur. Thames Water want to be more transparent and open about their storm discharge activity. We…

    sirgeogy

    January 4, 2023
    Analysis, pollution, River Mole
    news, pollution, River Mole
  • Development threats to runoff in the Upper Mole Basin

    Development threats to runoff in the Upper Mole Basin

    Analysis of potential impacts on runoff and river flow of three developments in the Upper Mole basin.

    sirgeogy

    December 7, 2022
    Conservation, Flood defence, Gatwick airport, hazards, lag time, River Mole
    flood risk assessment, River Mole, River Mole drainage basin
  • Rainfall intensity rules River Mole runoff, to a point.

    Rainfall intensity rules River Mole runoff, to a point.

    Bit of a cryptic title but this follows my previous post on how our flashy local river responds to rain. Two recent contrasting rainfall events occurred at the tail end of this wet November and it struck me how the Mole responded quite differently to these. So in this post I have drawn up hydrographs…

    sirgeogy

    November 30, 2022
    Analysis, flood, Floods, Gatwick airport, lag time, River Mole
    Gatwick airport, geography, hydrograph, lag times, river discharge, River Mole, River Mole drainage basin
  • River Mole: flashy by nature?

    River Mole: flashy by nature?

    The River Mole is a flashy river! This means levels rise quickly after rain falls over the catchment. The hydrograph below shows the River Mole discharge at Gatwick gauging station rising quickly after a heavy squall line passed over the catchment, dropping 11mm in less than 1 hour. This is not outside normal rainfall but…

    sirgeogy

    November 25, 2022
    flood, lag time, River Mole
    flood hazards, lag times, River Mole
  • Learning about anglers on the River Mole

    Learning about anglers on the River Mole

    Anglers in active and well run angling societies such as Horley Piscatorial Society are a vital foundation for river health. It seems to me that they connect up a network of other stakeholders from farmers to councils, the EA and other charities and conservation groups.

    sirgeogy

    November 20, 2022
    Angling, Conservation, Fishing
    Angling, Fishing, Reigate
  • A video following the Mole downstream from source to Thames!

    A video following the Mole downstream from source to Thames!

    I’ve made a video to celebrate our local river by following it downstream from source to the confluence with the Thames. It highlights the challenges our river faces and picks up some of the key places and features (obviously not all… and slightly skewed to where I know best which is the upper mole). I…

    sirgeogy

    November 17, 2022
    flood, video
    Gatwick airport, River Mole
  • The 1968 Mole Flood

    The 1968 Mole Flood

    The worst recorded flooding in the River Mole was in 1968 when a rare 1:200 year storm caused rainfall to exceed 100mm in 24 hours and a staggering discharge over 240 cumecs in the Lower Mole (see extract below).  For comparison, the average discharge of the River Thames in London is 65 cumecs and the average September…

    sirgeogy

    November 9, 2022
    flood, Floods, hazards, River Mole, storm
  • In search of the Source of the River Mole!

    In search of the Source of the River Mole!

    Sadly not some epic blockbuster but a modest 10 minute movie showing a recent (dry) walk to find the source of the Mole near Rusper. I followed the baby Mole downstream to Lambs Green through the typical rural and semi-rural countryside in this part of Surrey. The land use here is a mix of woods…

    sirgeogy

    November 9, 2022
    River Mole, video
  • Flood-Gate? Gatwick Airport flood and water management in the Mole drainage basin

    Flood-Gate? Gatwick Airport flood and water management in the Mole drainage basin

    This post explores flood control engineering, water management and pollution controls currently in place at London Gatwick airport.  The post adds detail to the previous article on flood control in the River Mole basin and should provide a fuller understanding of flood control on the River Mole including management of water flows through Gatwick airport and any impact…

    sirgeogy

    November 9, 2022
    Flood defence, Gatwick airport, River Mole
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Please support my blog

Dear Reader, My sincere thanks for reading my posts. If you enjoy the blog I would be very grateful indeed for your support in helping me cover the costs of running The Mole Story by contributing here, My sincere thanks, Simon

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Popular Posts

  • A River Runs Through It. Proposed Gatwick Northern Runway expansion and impacts on the River MoleOctober 20, 2023
  • A short story about Rainfall and Runoff in two recent contrasting rain events in September and how the River Mole responded.September 23, 2023
  • Levelling up? Uneven patterns of recent rainfall highlight characteristic river response and signpost future management strategy in the River Mole catchment.July 1, 2023

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