I am pleased to see that the government has now endorsed a long- term action plan to deal with water management on the Somerset Levels.

Credit must go to local authorities, the farming and business communities and all organisations involved in pressing for such action.

I am also pleased to hear that Environment Secretary Owen Paterson’s stance has moved more towards local control of water management. This is something that I have been calling for, along with local drainage boards.

Our attention must now focus on how to pay for it. A barrage to protect the Bridgwater area could cost upwards of £25 million. Annual dredging of the Rivers Tone and Parrett could cost several million each year. With funding at local level more stretched than ever before, delivering this action plan will not be easy.

I have long called for a wider plan to tackle the issue of water management in the South West: a plan that crosses county boundaries and allows us to deal once and for all with drainage, water retention and flood prevention.

In 2010, Southmead Hospital in Bristol received a low interest, long term loan from the European Investment Bank of around £250 million for its reconstruction: a loan underwritten by European governments and far more competitive than anything in the commercial sector.

There is nothing to suggest South West local authorities could not do the same to fund a long term water management strategy.

It would need to involve the Local Enterprise Partnerships, the water companies and the landowners.

A plan for the levels is good news, but let us widen our ambitions to tackle the challenge our region is going to face more often in future.

Sir Graham Watson MEP, Member of the European Parliament for South West England and Gibraltar, Langport, Somerset.