Beavers boost drought defences as Burnham eyes new constitution
Developed over time first seen 2 months ago
Beaver-created ponds and wetlands in Devon have remained visibly green during drought conditions that have left much of the surrounding countryside dry. Images from the River Otter catchment highlighted how dams slow and retain water, potentially providing refuge for wildlife, grazing and water for livestock, and reducing rapid runoff when heavy rain follows dry weather. The evidence supports beavers as one nature-based contribution to drought and flood resilience, although their effects vary by location and require management where activity affects farmland, infrastructure or fish passage.
Separately, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said his devolution programme strengthened the argument for a written UK constitution. He proposed a codified settlement to set out relations between Westminster, the devolved nations and English regions, with regional economic disparities central to the discussion. Burnham cited Germany’s post-war Basic Law as an influence, particularly its approach to regional financial equalisation. The idea would represent a substantial change from the UK’s uncodified constitutional arrangements, and detailed proposals were expected later in the autumn rather than being announced as a completed policy.
- Devon beaver wetlands retained water during drought.
- Beavers may help manage both dry spells and flash flooding, but need local oversight.
- Burnham backed exploring a written constitution tied to deeper devolution.
Full account
Two unrelated developments underline how Britain is responding to environmental pressure and long-standing political imbalance this summer: wildlife experts have highlighted the value of beaver-engineered wetlands during England's drought, while Prime Minister Andy Burnham has argued that his devolution reforms build the case for the UK adopting a written constitution. Though separate stories, both speak to how established structures — of land management and of governance — are being reassessed under strain.
In Devon's River Otter catchment, where beavers have lived under licence since 2015, aerial photography shows patches of vivid green wetland persisting amid a landscape turned brown by weeks without rain; parts of the county reportedly went 50 days without rainfall before an official drought was declared. Dr Alan Puttock of the University of Exeter said the animals' dams and ponds, some holding around 1,000 cubic metres of water apiece, slow the flow of water through the landscape, cutting peak flows by roughly 30% and releasing water gradually rather than letting it drain away quickly, as tends to happen in heavily drained modern farmland. He said the resulting habitats support wildlife under pressure elsewhere, sustain river flows for water abstraction and livestock, buffer against flash flooding when rain does return to hardened ground, and can even help contain wildfires — while cautioning that beaver wetlands alone cannot resolve drought conditions and work best alongside other nature-based interventions. This aligns with Environment Agency research on river restoration more broadly, which finds with 'medium confidence' that reconnecting rivers to floodplains and reintroducing natural features can slow flows and reduce flood risk, though effectiveness varies by catchment size and can take time to materialise.
On a quite different front, Burnham used the weekend to argue that his government's decentralisation programme — including plans to hand regional mayors and local authorities greater fiscal control through what is being termed 'No 10 North' — strengthens, rather than weakens, the case for the UK finally codifying its constitution. He described the changes set out on Friday as the most far-reaching break yet from Westminster's traditionally centralised model of governance, saying the shift meant 'Britain is changing… England is certainly changing' and that this pointed towards a fresh constitutional settlement built around a commitment to comparable living standards across the country, which he insisted was 'more than just a soundbite'. The UK remains unusual among major democracies in having no single written constitution, and Burnham said any new framework would need to accommodate devolved arrangements in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland alongside England's regions.
Academic reaction was more measured. Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, noted that constitutional codification has historically followed revolutions or the collapse of a previous regime, making Burnham's proposal for the UK unusually gradualist. He suggested a codified constitution could constrain future governments by placing certain rules beyond the reach of a simple parliamentary majority — a possible upside in clarifying the powers of local, regional and national government — but warned that such a change would be very difficult to contain to that narrow purpose once begun. The idea draws on arguments Burnham made in his 2024 book Head North, co-written with Liverpool city region mayor Steve Rotheram, which attributed entrenched regional inequality partly to Britain's failure to move on from a centuries-old concentration of power in Westminster.
Where outlets differ
The beaver/drought item and the Burnham/constitution item are entirely separate news stories with no substantive connection; the shared headline links them only by coincidence of timing, not by any reported causal or thematic relationship in the source material.
Source 1 (an image-led wire report, apparently from PA Media via Perspective Media) focuses on visual evidence and practical/ecological benefits of beaver engineering, citing a single named academic (Dr Alan Puttock) and specific figures (1,000 cubic metres per pond, 30% reduction in peak flow).
Source 2 (styled like a broadsheet political report, likely The Guardian given its references to Burnham's book and Tim Bale's commentary) is analytical and sceptical in tone, foregrounding an academic's caveats about the practical and political difficulty of the constitutional proposal rather than presenting it as settled policy.
Source 3 is a GOV.UK/Environment Agency technical research summary on river and floodplain management generally; it does not mention beavers, drought or the Devon case specifically, so it was used here only as supporting context on river restoration's flood/drought effects, with lower confidence in its direct relevance to the beaver story.
Only Source 1 gives a specific drought timeline (drought declared in Devon on a Wednesday; 50 days without rain); the other sources provide no dates tying them to the same news cycle.
More coverage
- Perspective Media / PA — Beavers create wetland areas that stay green and boost resilience in drought
- The Guardian — Devolution plans strengthen case for written UK constitution, says Burnham
- GOV.UK — River and floodplain management
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