Authority has a duty far and near

To keep river and stream channels clear.

To that end I duly make a mention

Of that which surely needs attention.

The flow must find its way unimpeded

To where its content is most needed

The ocean waits - with a beckoning arm

To where the flood will do least harm.

To do less earns guilt and rightly so

When the growing silt interrupts the flow

And sees it seek escape beyond

To turn the land into a pond.

I seem to recall an EU Directive

Whose sense can hardly be selective:

To dredge the rivers and the streams

And free them from the torrent that seems

To witness the work not even begun -

As the rains arrive and the damage is done !

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Note:  I wonder why the lakes and canals that are found in towns and cities across the country appear to 

pose no comparable danger if falling rain per se is the problem.