I sympathise with those people whose lives have been disrupted by the York floods and offer a solution to prevent this problem occurring in the future.

If York were a Dutch city then a diversionary canal would have been built years ago.

It is possible to bypass York by the following route, none of which is above 17 metres high.

A canal would leave the Ouse above Overton, below the Ouse/Nidd confluence, and follow the stream called Foss Beck.

It would then follow the Foss Dike to the east of Rufforth, and the Healaugh Beck south of Angram.

It would go below the main railway line near Colton and flow east to rejoin the Ouse below Naburn lock.

This canal would not only relieve York, but would be a huge recreational asset, as well as providing a strategic water reserve for hot, dry summers.

It would also provide work for British engineering, construction, concrete and steel manufactuers and other industries. Unlike the Dome, this would be money well spent.

Two further three-quarter-mile-long cuts would completely bypass Cawood and Selby and these canals would enhance, not spoil, the region.

John Simpson,

Geldof Road,

Huntington, York.

...One solution to flooding in the Vale of York would be to build more dams in the dales. This would solve two problems.

Firstly, it would hold back water in extreme weather conditions such as we have just experienced and the flow of water into the rivers could be better controlled.

Secondly, it would provide more water in extreme summer conditions and there would be less chance of shortages.

If we believe that global warming is taking place, then more stored water will be needed.

Mrs K Thomas,

Walton Place,

York.

...It must be difficult to get more facts wrong in a single letter than Phil Wilson of London does by blaming all our flood problems on the management of upland moors (November 10).

A glance at the map shows the rivers which feed the Ouse drain the North Yorkshire Dales which are primarily arable and upland pasture, not heather moors. My understanding of the management of grouse moors is that land-owners burn heather on a rotation basis to encourage new growth which will actually help peat ground retain water.

The now-discontinued practice of 'gripping' was subsidised by the Ministry of Agriculture during the 1950s and 60s to improve upland grazing for cattle and sheep. It didn't, it caused erosion and rapid water run-off.

An Environment Agency officer said in an interview last week it is not a great problem in the Ouse catchment area because relatively little 'gripping' was done there.

As for advocating afforestation of the northern moors, Mr Wilson should speak to people who live in areas which have endured a lot of modern forestry work. What is the main preparation before planting trees? To cut ditches all over the hillsides to drain the land.

Laurie Holland,

Keble Park Crescent,

Bishopthorpe, York.

...My thanks to Richard Lamb of Rawcliffe whose bilious letter (Letters November 9) reminds me in these trying times why I have never voted Conservative.

Andy Baldock,

Villa Grove,

Heworth Green, York.