Upper Thames water shortages / limited draft

[Scholar Gypsy]

Not quite yet a stoppage ... Particularly relevant if your boat's draft is over 0.9 metres, and you are above Abingdon.

 

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Customer notice

Water levels in the upper River Thames

Water levels in the upper River Thames, particularly upstream of Abingdon lock, will
be shallower than you are used to in some places, due to below average rainfall this
year.

With this in mind we are asking boaters to take extra care, especially immediately
downstream of locks where the natural gradient of the river means levels are always
slightly lower than elsewhere in the reach.

For your safety, we have marked all known shallow areas in the main navigation
channel (the middle third of the river, also known as the 'fairway') with red and
green buoys. Please ensure you are familiar with the rules of navigation around
obstructions marked in this way - they are there to protect you and your boat from
harm. You may find the diagram on page 13 of the River Thames cruising
guide<https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/river-thames-and-connecting-waterways-cruising-guide>
helpful.

Remember, boats coming towards you may have to manoeuvre around an obstruction even
if you don't. Also, other boats may be harder to handle than yours, and their
skippers less experienced, so please be considerate.

Where we can, we will also mark obstructions that we are aware of, or are reported
to us, outside of the main navigation channel. We cannot mark every one however, so
do please be vigilant. You can report an obstruction to us on 03708 506 506. Please
also remember that a mooring may be shallower than the last time you used it.

We are doing all that we can to maintain the depths of navigation as published on
www.gov.uk <https://www.gov.uk/river-thames-bridges-locks-and-facilities-for-boaters#maximum-drafts>.

Actions we are taking include closing all our weirs and placing 'summer boards' on
those that can accommodate them to raise their height. This means we can hold more
water back, so raising levels. We are also carrying out additional checks for any
leaks in our weir gates and ensuring they are staunched.

In addition, we have instructed our lock staff in the Oxford area to try to avoid
emptying locks unless they contain at least one boat, wherever possible. This
ensures we are making the most of the considerable volume of water that is released
downstream each time a lock is used.

If water levels continue to drop, it will be increasingly difficult for us to
maintain depths, even if we implement additional measures such as restricted lock
use. We hope to avoid the need for additional measures but may not be able to unless
there is significant rainfall over the coming weeks.

Where possible we will also ask our lock staff to advise you of any known shallow
areas ahead of you. To help you assess whether or not to continue your journey, you
may want to check your boat's draft if you don't already know it. Above Iffley Lock
we cannot guarantee the navigation channel will always be sufficiently deep for
craft with a draft of 0.9m or more.

We are of course monitoring the situation very closely and will let you know
immediately if there are any further developments you need to be aware of.

We hope you have found this communication helpful in planning your cruising this
summer, and hope it is not unduly affected by weather conditions.

Thank you for your understanding and co-operation.

River Thames Waterway Operations

Edited July 16, 2015 by Scholar Gypsy

[LEO]

Hi,

 

Sounds like a return to the days of 1976 - one lock an hour and pumps at some locks pumping water back over the weirs.

 

Happy days.

 

L.

[Scholar Gypsy]

Hi,

 

Sounds like a return to the days of 1976 - one lock an hour and pumps at some locks pumping water back over the weirs.

 

Happy days.

 

L.

 

Yes I remember that, esp. Days lock where the water table just kept going down ...

[Peter X]

Paulmeds and I came down from Duke's Cut above Oxford to Reading last week, on his narrowboat Tara which is quite a shallow draught so had no problem, and were very aware of the volume of water that goes downstream every time one of those big locks is emptied. Quite often we were the only boat in the lock, and at the other extreme in the last lock at Reading before the Kennet mouth, it held two narrowboats and two GRP cruisers. I suppose I'm stating the obvious here, but if the water shortage continues, it might be wise if anyone not in a hurry mentions that to the lockkeeper, with a view to waiting on the lock landing until more boats happen along.

Of course the water shortage may get to the point where the lockkeepers are ordering people to wait anyway.