SIR — I was interested in your front page article concerning Watchet marina (Free Press, September 12). Most of the article related to the problem with the failure of the lock gate - but any moving part can fail and, without having more knowledge of the circumstances, I shall only say that things happen and it is tempting to blame. It seems that the issue is being addressed practicably and efforts have been made to ensure that marina users are not inconvenienced. I was more interested in reading about plans to install an automatic desiltation system to cope with the serious build-up of silt in the harbour. I don't know how much of this is common knowledge but it should be: In the 1990s, when the marina was first conceived, the then West Somerset District Council employed specialist consultants to investigate the siltation issue. The outcome was that, in the preliminary design, it was proposed to incorporate a sump and submersible pump into the marina retaining wall structure near the lock gates. It was recognised that at high water the silt held in suspension would be concentrated in approximately the bottom 300mm of the water column and would flow towards the deepest point of the marina. If the water at this depth could be removed it would greatly reduced the siltation problem. There were some details to be resolved but, basically, at appropriate times the pump would draw in the silt-laden water and it would be pumped through a pipe constructed in the bed of the harbour with a discharge point somewhere outside the entrance of the harbour. I believe the anticipated cost of this work was about £60K, but when the detailed design was completed it was excluded from the project, presumably as a cost-cutting exercise. It now seems that chickens have come home to roost and, with hindsight, it may have been wise to incorporate the silt pumping system at the outset. I would be interested to know how the proposed automated system compares with that put forward in the original preliminary design of the marina. Name and address supplied.