containing this river is only part of the solution for stonehaven. it s also been hit by torrential downpours which have simply swamped the streets, plus it s on the coast in an era of rising sea levels. and, of course, it s not the only place in scotland facing those challenges. further north, in the old herring port of wick, they know all about the peril of the sea. but this summer the local distillery faced a different threat drought. and you can t make whisky without water. and as you can see, we need a lot of cold water. the problem we were experiencing. at the time was the whole ecosystem dried up, so we really had to manage that and we had to shut down. - it wasn t a difficult decision to do. - i mean, we want to- protect the environment. we want to protect our source
they re taking action here by building flood defences through the middle of the town. the project is expensive and late, but the chief engineer insists it s vital. there s been 1979, 1986. we ve had a couple of big events in the 20005, so they are growing in intensity and frequency. will this protect stonehaven in the climate change era? we are protecting almost 400 homes, protecting a school, some residential homes. so these all have a cost. if they get flooded, they have a cost to society, but it won t solve every problem. and i think people need to be aware of that. this is not the silver bullet that will solve every problem. containing this river is only part of the solution for stonehaven. it s also been hit by torrential downpours, which have simply swamped the streets. plus, it s on the coast in an era of rising sea levels. and, of course, it s not the only place in scotland facing those challenges. further north, in the old herring port of wick, they know all about the peril of