There are no surprises in the Pitt Review of last year's flooding. It includes all the things we have been talking about, from householders doing more to adapt their homes in line with the frequency of flooding to better warning systems and more effective flood protection.

We are particularly pleased that Sir Michael Pitt has said that local authorities should take a more clearly defined lead in overseeing the maintenance of ditches and drainage networks.

While there is a limit to what can be easily done to counter swollen rivers at times of prolonged and heavy rain - they are a force of nature - there is much that can be done to ensure that everyone is keeping the ditches and drains they are responsible for clear and working properly.

As we discovered both last summer and in the subsequent months, it is flash flooding caused by inadequate drainage that is responsible for much of the regular flooding that we experience.

The county council's emergency planner John Kelly has warned that there will be a big cost involved in doing this work.

It is a price, however, that we have to pay. Enforcing the proper management of drainage systems is a vital job. No one is doing it now. Instead, we rely on individual organisations - private and public - to maintain their own bits of the network. In many cases, there is confusion over who is exactly responsible.