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CANAL & RIVER TRUST UPDATES ON WATER SAVING MEASURES


Ray T

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press release

26 June 2019  

 

CANAL & RIVER TRUST UPDATES ON WATER SAVING MEASURES

 

The Canal & River Trust is updating boaters on water saving measures on the Leeds & Liverpool, Oxford, and Grand Union Canals following the rainfall over recent weeks.  The charity is striking a balance between making the waterways as accessible as possible for boaters while mitigating against future risk.

 

The recent rainfall has improved water levels on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal and the Trust is lifting the restrictions in some locations.  However the reservoirs have not seen enough rainfall to refill them to a satisfactory level. 

 

As such, the Trust is removing the restrictions at Johnsons Hillocks and at Blackburn Locks as they are fed by feeders as well as from the summit.  The restricted opening times at Barrowford Locks, Greenberfield Locks, Bank Newton Locks, and Gargrave Locks remain in place as they are solely fed from the reservoirs. 

 

Wigan Flight can be prone to vandalism which, when it occurs, uses a lot of water and can cause problems for both boaters and the Trust’s water management.  The opening times remain in place to minimise this risk. 

 

In the south of the country, while the Oxford and Grand Union Canals also saw some improvements, the Trust remains cautious and is keeping the restricted opening times in place to ensure the canals have the best possible chance of staying open throughout the summer boating season.

 

The opening times are intended to allow boats that want to move to do so whilst also protecting the canal from unnecessary water loss through paddles being left open.

 

Jon Horsfall, head of customer service support at the Canal & River Trust said: “We will continue to monitor the water levels across the country, with a view to lifting restrictions when water levels are secure enough for us to do so.  Our water management team is keeping a close eye on the situation and we can react quickly to any changes – either to open the canals so boaters can benefit from unrestricted use, or to put in water saving measures where necessary to ensure the canals remain open for boaters during drier times.

 

“Boaters play an important part in helping us save water.  When you’re out cruising you can make the best use of the water available by sharing locks where possible and ensuring paddles are fully closed once you’ve passed through – with a few exceptions that are signposted locally.  Please make sure gates are fully open as pushing them open with your boat can damage the gate lining and increase leaking.  Thank you for your understanding and your support.”

 

For more information on the restrictions visit the stoppages section of the Canal & River Trust website: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices

 

-ends-

 

 

For further media requests please contact:

Fran Read, Canal & River Trust

m 07796 610 427 e fran.read@canalrivertrust.org.uk

 

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3 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

But June is now odds on to be the wettest on record, with yellow weather warnings issued for the coming week and the country set to be deluged by heavy rain. 

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/06/09/weather-june-expected-wettest-record-met-office-warn-potential/

The weather warnings have been and gone the article is dated 10/6/19

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Just now, Alan de Enfield said:

Obviously, but surely its also obvious that it takes a few days to percolate into the canals & reservoirs. Water levels should be high now.

Could that not be higher rather than high?    Last time I was on the LL I was told by a CRT worker the reservoirs leaked like a sieve so sufficient water was a rarity.   Don't know if it is true or not.

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Just now, Jerra said:

Could that not be higher rather than high?    Last time I was on the LL I was told by a CRT worker the reservoirs leaked like a sieve so sufficient water was a rarity.   Don't know if it is true or not.

Higher could be 1" higher than when it was at its lowest point, which could be 12" below 'normal' so it would still be 'low'.

 

I have always taken 'high' as being above the 'norm'.

 

"With all the rain percolating thru, I would have thought that the water levels would be higher than the norm"

 

Better ?

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1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Higher could be 1" higher than when it was at its lowest point, which could be 12" below 'normal' so it would still be 'low'.

 

I have always taken 'high' as being above the 'norm'.

 

"With all the rain percolating thru, I would have thought that the water levels would be higher than the norm"

 

Better ?

Better would probably be true but it might still not be high enough.  Having a number of reservoirs e.g. Thirlmere near us I am constantly amazed at how long they takes to refill, even in a place which gets as much rain as the Lake District.

 

There is a local saying which sums up Cumbria weather - "if you can see the fell top it's going to rain, if you can't see the top it is raining".

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22 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

But June is now odds on to be the wettest on record, with yellow weather warnings issued for the coming week and the country set to be deluged by heavy rain. 

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/06/09/weather-june-expected-wettest-record-met-office-warn-potential/

The heavy rain has been extremely patchy - and the rivers round here aren't up much if at all. At one point we did have the slightly bizarre situation where the Avon at Dundas was well up and flowing like a, well, a thing flowing very fast whilst the Frome, which is a tributary of the Avon, was struggling to dribble over the weir at Welsh Mill

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On 26/06/2019 at 18:51, Jerra said:

Could that not be higher rather than high?    Last time I was on the LL I was told by a CRT worker the reservoirs leaked like a sieve so sufficient water was a rarity.   Don't know if it is true or not.

The reservoirs are inspected regularly by non-CRT engineers as part of reservoir legislation, so are unlikely to leak. I can't say the same about the canal though.

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