Canal News - items from "Basingstoke Canal News"
This is the quarterly publication of the Canal Society
BCN 199, Autumn 2003
Contents -
Water Control
Water Control -Tony Beecher, BCA Canal Manager
The trials and tribulations of water control on the canal.
Over the last 10 years or so, the problems of retaining useable levels of water in the canal have been an ongoing problem.
Over the last 2 years, with a change in the regime of water control we have manged to keep the canal open, but only just. This has been achieved by the vigilance of the Ranger force, and by the co-operation of the users of the canal.
This year (2003), we have had to close the canal once again through lack of water. There has been no let up in the vigilance of the rangers, but some of the users of the canal, maybe because the canal has had water for the last 2 years and so in their perception there is no problem with water, have not been as helpful as they might.
Since the beginning of the year, despite instructions on lock operation being nailed to all the jack heads, there has been a continual mis-use of Lock 29. On some occasions the chamber has been left full overnight with the lower paddles not fully down; on a number of other occasions, boaters have called the Canal Centre saying that they cannot fill the lock. When a ranger has arrived after being diverted from other duties, invariably the problem has been boaters trying to fill the lock without closing the lower gate paddles.
The low water level in Hampshire has been further exacerbated by what can only be described as theft of water.
Throughout the summer months we rely heavily on the supply of water from Broad Oak to maintain the levels in the Hampshire section. As levels started to drop off, full inspections were made to ensure that all available water was being retained. It was during one of these routine inspections I was making at Broad Oak, that something did not ring true. After further investigation I discovered that the inlet end of the pipe that feeds through to the canal had been blocked with a large piece of clear acrylic sheet. This effectively dammed the stream, and diverted it through a culvert into Wilk's Water. What this cost us in water I have no idea, but once the dam was removed the levels that are checked on a daily basis stabilised to some extent, though they are still dropping.
Low levels in the Hampshire pound have a knock-on effect throughout the entire canal in as much as, to attempt to maintain the water level, the by-wash at Ash Lock has to be throttled back and the Frimley pump turned on to maintain levels in the Mytchett pound. The Frimley pump puts enough water in to match losses by transpiration, evaporation and seepage, ie. subsistence water, but certainly not sufficient water to operate the flights of locks. With the Deepcut flight closed, boats using Ash Lock, which is fine as long as the lock is not misused, provide working water for the Mytchett pound.
A further demand on water this year has been caused by boaters using the locks outside the specified times, even when they have agreed with the duty ranger to remain morred below or above a flight of locks until the following day; as soon as the ranger's back is turned, the locks have been used. The next morning, rangers have had to refill reaches which have drained down overnight.
A serious case of this occurred at St. Johns recently when water was already getting short. A boat used the St. Johns flight outside hours and the resultant loss of water above St. Johns left the Canal Society tug and barges moored outside Pete Redway's house stranded.
One demand on water that has arisen this year is at Lock 25, Curzon Bridge on the Deepcut flight. During hot spells of weather, local youths have started using the lock as a swimming pool, filling the lock and then diving off the bridge. Before they were discovered, the reach above 25, which is quite long, was dropped by over a foot. The paddles on this lock now have to be locked.
We now hear on the 'towpath telegraph' that word is being passed around that you can do what you like on the Basingstoke Canal, once the ranger is off duty. The upshot of this, if it continues, will be a regime in which operating times for the locks will be strictly adhered to, Ash Lock will have restricted use, and any boats breaking the rules will have their licences revoked, rather than the flexible and friendly system that operates at the moment.
Comments are often passed to me about how nice it is to have the friendly, helpful rangers we have on the Basingstoke, rather than the officious unhelpful service that is offered on some other waterways. Well, after some of the antics I have seen this year, I can easily see how such regimes come into existence and I do not look on them with the same disapproval that I did 2 years ago.
The opening times of the locks are set out to give the duty rangers time to go through the flights of locks caulking up the gates and preserving as much water as possible. Particularly in times of water shortage, the operating times may not be ideal, but they are the best we can do with the manpower available, and as stated at the start of this article, with the help and co-operation of users we can offer a year-round service, but with the selfish actions of only a few boaters, this can be spoilt for everyone.
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