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Canals under Threat

Heartland

Heartland

master brummie
On Saturday and Sunday (12th and 13th August) boaters and working boats gathered at the Mailbox (Worcester & Birmingham Canal) in a protest rally that is meant to highlight the reduction of funding that will affect the future of the Canal and River Trust operations and maintenance. Some people are already predicting canal closures at a time when there are canal restoration schemes underway such as the Cotswolds Canal, the Herefordshire & Gloucestershire and the Lichfield & Hatherton.

It was an event that seems to have been ignored by the media in general and has but the basics of coverage. Considering that the Mailbox is the home of a part of the BBC, this event deserved more interest from the media.

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Some people have said that the number of boat present were not enough to attract the BBC attention, even if their horns were quite loud in this protest. Still other events are planned across the country.
 
This gathering, the first, and appropriate in Birmingham, was to promote FundBritaisWaterways a group set up in response to the threat posed to British canals and waterways by inadequate funding. The funding situation is already causing deterioration and can only worsen with the challenges of high inflation and the impact of climate change which are both at a level unforeseen when current funding was agreed.

A major point is that waterways provide 80,000 jobs and contribute £1.5 annually to the economy, both of which could be reduced through reduced funding.
 
It has also been suggested that the canal system might be used to transport water from the water-rich north of England to the southern area. Not a popular idea with water companies such as Thames water (and quite possibly not practical), as I found out when I mentioned it at a consultation meeting many years ago,
 
mikejee said:
It has also been suggested that the canal system might be used to transport water from the water-rich north of England to the southern area. Not a popular idea with water companies such as Thames water (and quite possibly not practical), as I found out when I mentioned it at a consultation meeting many years ago,
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If you meant by the flow in the canals, there isn't much, and the levels rise and fall through the use of locks. High points have to be kept filled by reservoirs fed by local water supplies, so the furthest any water would travel would only be from the nearest high point reservoir to the delivery point. For large volumes of water need, it would be quicker to pump and desalinate sea water as is done in some far eastern countries with meagre rainfall.
 
Lloyd said:
If you meant by the flow in the canals, there isn't much, and the levels rise and fall through the use of locks. High points have to be kept filled by reservoirs fed by local water supplies, so the furthest any water would travel would only be from the nearest high point reservoir to the delivery point. For large volumes of water need, it would be quicker to pump and desalinate sea water as is done in some far eastern countries with meagre rainfall.
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If I remember correctly, and it was a while ago, the idea was that canals might be used for part of the route, with pumping etc where being used where necessary
 
mikejee said:
If I remember correctly, and it was a while ago, the idea was that canals might be used for part of the route, with pumping etc where being used where necessary
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I recall it being proposed after the 1976 drought
 
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