Chair Anne Husar writes:
First to say a warm welcome to Jacqui Lund who has joined Council, bringing us up to our full quota of twelve members. We look forward to your input and hope you find your involvement interesting and absorbing.
How are your cruising plans panning out so far? Have they been scuppered by low water, exacerbated by unplanned stoppages? Certainly the closure/restriction notices are coming in thick and fast. By the way, when is a ‘navigation restriction’ a ‘navigation closure’? Best to tick both filter boxes at the moment. With drought affected waterways you could find yourself unaware.
In a recent meeting with CRT, the rumour that they are considering closing the complete system was firmly squashed. Certainly canal feeding reservoirs are rapidly depleting, look up the August reservoir watch tables and compare with July’s. Even river fed canals are suffering too, for example the Llangollen’s top is even nearer the bottom because of the low level of the Dee.
Here on the Shroppie, boat movements are continuing, it’s one of the few waterways that are so far unaffected although it is of course closed near Chester with the culvert collapse at Mollington.
Still, you can’t have everything although maybe at some future date, boaters on the Grand Union might have. The long in the planning and now beginning to get underway Water Transfer scheme will in fact put more water in to this canal. Don’t hold your breath though, works probably won’t even start until 2031. NABO’s vice chair is a member of the Canal User Group for this scheme and is keeping a close eye on this project with its impact on boating. Concerns include the speed of the flow which will be introduced and possible canal closures when structures are being built. As he says, “I’m not entirely convinced that boaters will be well served by CRT with it’s push to monetise water movement along the GU.”
Here’s hoping that wherever you are, your boat is still afloat by the end of the summer, happy cruising!