More rain is forecast for flooded areas of lowland Britain today, including the Somerset Levels, which have been at the centre of a raging debate over government spending on flood management and dredging.

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Areas of the Levels have been flooded since before Christmas, at the height of flooding 65km2 of the levels was underwater, according to the Environment Agency.

There are reports from farmers in the area that those who only farm land on the Levels have had to sell their animals, as the current wave of flooding, which comes just two years after the last inundation, means they can no longer hope to feed them.  

Military personnel arrived in the Somerset on Thursday morning to help residents of cut-off villages such as Oath and Muchelney. The army is reportedly making more vehicles and human resources available at short notice, with the expectation that further rain and high spring tides will make the situation in Somerset worse this weekend.

Having come under pressure from local flood victims and farming groups, the government has been forced to react. On Thursday, in response to public pressure, Prime Minister David Cameron overrode the Environment Agency and said the Levels' rivers would be dredged. However, the Agency and environmentalists maintain that the focus on dredging as a 'magic bullet' solution to flooding is misplaced; The Agency has pointed out that dredging would be an ineffective and inappropriate response to flooding on the levels.

Nevertheless, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said on Thursday that it has been established that the two main rivers on the Somerset Levels, the Tone and the Parrett require dredging. He announced that he has given local authorities six weeks to come up with a 20 year plan on river maintenance.

Mr Paterson has taken flak this week over his handling of flooding and river maintenance; the Defra minister incurred the wrath of locals on Monday when he refused to engage with flood victims or commit to concrete measures during a visit to the Levels and his department plans to halve the waterway maintenance budget by 2015.  

Earlier this week, the UK Mammal Society called on the government to consider a controversial solution to flood defence problems in the lowlands.

The Mammal Society said that, for many decades, Britain's rivers and streams have been straightened, engineered and cleared of natural debris so as to deliver rainfall as swiftly as possible to the sea. The waterways, fed by purpose-built ditches and field drains, reduce the land's natural ability to hold water. "Excessive flooding of towns, villages and farmland in the lowlands is the inevitable consequence of this unnaturally rapid transfer of water from the hills," the charity said.  

The government is considering paying farmers in the uplands to maintain rivers and hold back water, which could cost millions of pounds per year. The Mammal Society recommends "Bring[ing] back the beaver and allow[ing] it to apply its benign engineering skills to our river systems," which it said would enrich the natural environment, slow river flows at a minimal cost to the taxpayer and provide numerous other co-benefits.

The Society's chief executive, Marina Pacheco, said, "These are desperate times for householders and farmers affected by flooding rivers yet again. We have to acknowledge that our river systems are in poor shape and we need some special help to get flooding back under control in ways that we can afford.

"In addition to biodiversity benefits, restoring the beaver to Britain's rivers would bring huge benefits in terms of flood alleviation; these unpaid river engineers would quickly re-establish more natural systems that retain water behind multiple small dams across tributaries and side-streams; as a consequence the severity of flooding further downstream would be greatly reduced, at no cost to the tax payer."

Beavers in Britain were hunted to extinction in the 16th Century. The animals have been successfully reintroduced in a number of other European countries. In Britain, a trial reintroduction is under way in Knapdale, Scotland, and an 'unofficial' population has become widely established on the Tay catchment. 

The outcome of the official Scottish Beaver Trial is due to be reviewed by the Scottish Government in 2015. Earlier in the month, a retired environmental scientist captured footage of a beaver thought to be living wild in Dorset.

There are currently 42 active flood warnings in the UK, though no severe warnings indicating potential danger to life. All regions of England and Wales are affected by the warnings, though most are concentrated in the midlands region (19), with a further eight in the South-West. The Met Office has issued an amber warning for the South-West region ahead of rain on Friday afternoon. The Met Office warned that "The public should be prepared for the likelihood of significant disruption from flooding across the Somerset Levels."

Met Office Chief Forecasters said on Friday that "Another very deep area of low pressure will spread heavy rain and strong to gale force winds eastwards across southwest during Friday... 20-30 mm of rain is likely during the period, possibly exacerbating the current flooding situation."

**Update 11/02/2014 - amendments made to fifth paragraph. Local wildlife groups support dredging "where appropriate"**