The last forty years have seen the destruction of a huge proportion of flora and fauna in marshes, wet meadows, ponds, and river banks. This has happened largely as a result of enormous public investment in land drainage, carried out by water authorities, councils, and individual farmers. As a practical landscape architect working in the Water Industry, Jeremy Purseglove has been actively involved in building a wider brief for land drainage engineers so that they can enhance, rather than destroy, the heritage of our rivers and wetlands. "Taming the Flood" draws extensively on this experience, not only analyzing the conflicting demands made on rivers and wetlands, but also outlining practical proposals for their protection and use.