Image description: Aerial shot of Dunball sluice during early refurbishment. Image by the Environment Agency.

The Environment Agency has completed a £9.7 million refurbishment of the Dunball Sluice, a crucial tidal defence asset near Bridgwater that helps protect homes, businesses and internationally important freshwater habitats across the Somerset Levels region.

The agency has upgraded some mechanical elements of the gate, including measures to help otters and eels move more easily between water courses, and have helped extend its life for another quarter of a century.

The Dunball Sluice started life in 1971 and is used by the Environment Agency to control water flows across the Somerset Levels and Moors. Delivered by the Environment Agency’s Combined Delivery Framework (CDF) partners, the refurbishment began in 2022 and was funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), with a £650,000 contribution from the Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA).  The sluice can block the flow of tidal saltwater from the River Parrett into the nearby King’s Sedgemoor Drain, which protects freshwater habitats, as well as control water levels to reduce flooding.