In order to improve the efficiency of the system, pumping stations were built at Tickton, Great Culvert and East Hull in 1972.

However, attitudes to land drainage have changed and the Tickton station is now deemed to be uneconomic, and will be closed down unless alternative sources of income to fund its operation can be found.

These ran in an east-west direction and were primarily to aid transport by boat, rather than for drainage, although their large size tended to have some effect on the land.

He was a Commissioner of Sewers, and proposed a new drain from Forthdike to Marfleet, passing to the east of Sutton, whose inhabitants had resisted previous attempts at a solution.

[5] Sir Joseph Ashe made some improvements to his Wawne estate, which included cutting the Engine Drain, at the end of which he built two windmills to raise the water into the Hull.

[6] In 1763, landowners decided that the carrs to the east of the River Hull could be turned into profitable land, and obtained an act of Parliament[which?]

John Grundy, Jr. was approached to produce plans for the drainage of some 17.19 square miles (44.5 km2) of low-lying land to the east of the River Hull.

[8] There was significant opposition to his plans for the main outlet to be at Marfleet, since the shipping owners felt that the scouring action of the fresh water on the mud banks near the lower end of the Hull was vital to maintain the Old Harbour, as this part of the river was known.

With limited financial resources, Holderness Drainage were unable to resist the pressure, and the plans were altered to have an outlet at Stoneferry on the Hull, and reduced dimensions for the drains.

The land surveyor Charles Tate produced an engraved plan, and Grundy went to London to steer the bill for the scheme through Parliament.

[8] Grundy's life was marked by tragedy shortly afterwards, when his wife of 21 years died, and remarkably personal letters between the two engineers have survived.

Although busy with the Calder Navigation by then, Smeaton made the time to visit the area with Grundy on 4 July, in response to a request from the Trustees of the scheme to view the low grounds and carrs.

The resident engineer or 'surveyor' for this part of the work and for the construction of the main drain was Joseph Page, who was paid £80 per year.

Grundy in his capacity as Chief Engineer, visited the sites on four occasions in 1765, and continued to do so until October 1767, when the main drains and sluice were finished.

Flooding during the winter months was still a regular problem, because the drains could not cope with rain from the low-lying carrs, when they were full with water from higher ground to the north of Holderness.

The engineer William Jessop spent a month investigating the problems, studying some 40 square miles (100 km2), and presented a report in July 1786.

[14] Flooding in the Holderness Level increased between 1840 and 1880, as farmers used tile drains to keep their land free of standing water.

[17] Pumping from the drain increased again in 1913, when the newly constructed King George V Dock opened, and again required clean water.

The rest of the Foredyke Stream, which carried the high level waters through the city to the River Hull at Stoneferry was abandoned.

[26] The East Hull pumping station, near the outlet of the Holderness Drain, has a capacity of 94,600 cubic metres per hour (3,340,000 cu ft/h), and is jointly managed by Yorkshire Water and the Environment Agency.

[27] It was originally constructed in 1949, so that the outflow from the drain could be pumped into the Humber when the level of the tides prevented gravity discharge.

A major upgrade by Kingston upon Hull Corporation took place in May 1972, when it was extended to pump sewage flows into the Humber as well.

[26] In 2010, the Environment Agency looked at the costs and effectiveness of the pumping stations, and concluded that only East Hull significantly reduced the risk of flooding to properties.

[28] Although deemed uneconomic, Great Culvert pumping station would continue to be used, as removing it would result in water from the high level system flowing back up the Holderness Drain, increasing the risk of flooding.

[29] At the time, a £900,000 refurbishment scheme was being carried out at East Hull pumping station, and ways to increase its capacity were under investigation.

Following a planning decision in April 2020, work started on the new structure in May, which is located to the south of the existing station, nearer to the Humber.

Phase 2 of the project, to create a flood relief area to the east of Bransholme and Sutton near the Castle Monument, began in June 2022.

An independent group proposed a canal running parallel to the drain in September 1791, which would be navigable from near the Holderness outfall to Monk bridge, or to Leven, about 1 mile (1.6 km) further to the north.

[36] In 1799, Mrs Bethel asked Jessop to produce a plan for a canal running westwards from Leven to the River Hull.