Canal users around the West Midlands have raised concerns about falling water levels this summer and said the Canal and River Trust (CRT) and the government need to do more to prepare for future droughts. Boaters and business owners said repeated restrictions are affecting travel, trade and leisure, and warned that hotter summers may become more common.
Cheryl Howes, who has been running a boat company for 26 years on the Grand Union canal, said plans needed to be made with more hot summers in mind. She said maintenance, leak repairs and funding all needed attention if the network was to cope better in future.
“They need to be addressing leaks and various other problems, and if they need more money they need to work out how to get more money.”
The CRT apologised for disruption and said it was targeting water-saving repairs and maintenance this summer in order to reduce leakage and manage water flow. It said low flows were also being made worse by lock misuse, and that it was in some cases restricting lock usage by boats.
“These measures are taken to preserve supplies and to keep navigations open for boating for as long as possible – managing supplies in our reservoirs and other sources (rivers, groundwater) that feed the canals - which at present is simply not being replenished,” it said.
Dean Conduit said the canals were important to a lot of people and a lot of businesses.
Sarah Williams, who has a boat on the Coventry Canal, said a plan was needed for this kind of situation because the problem was not likely to improve on its own.
“Maybe there needs to be a plan in place for this sort of thing because evidently its not going to get any better, it's just going to get worse.”
This is the second summer running that canal users in the region have seen restrictions and closures, although some routes are still open. Dean Conduit, owner of Warwickshire Narrowboat Hire on the Grand Union Canal, said the canals needed planning for the future.
“We need to plan for the future of the canals.”
He said he was still open for business this summer and was still getting bookings, but the CRT needed to take action to keep water moving.
“It's not just for boats, it's for canoeists, paddle boards [and] people walking their dogs,” he said.
He added that the government also needed to act and said the infrastructure had to be properly thought through to save the canals.
“It needs to be properly thought out and the infrastructure put in place to save our canals.”
Howes has 14 boats on the Grand Union Canal and said the canal brings in a lot of tourism and trade for businesses connected to it.
She has continued getting bookings and said canals were “an amazing way to spend some time”, but trade was down this summer because of the closures last year. Her season runs through to October and, after seeing closures last August, she said she wanted to make sure the canals remain open until then.
“If these hot summers, which I'm sure a lot of people are enjoying, are the new norm, then we need to be working out how we make sure we've got enough water to get through the summer.”
Williams said she was sad not to be able to use her boat this summer and said she had not been able to get it out from its mooring near Tamworth for the last two years because water levels were too low.
“I dread going out because the chances are that if I get the boat out and I get it off the mooring, I can't actually get it back on again,” she said.
She said the droughts over the last two years were the worst she had seen.
“It makes me feel frustrated, because it would be nice to be able to go out, it would be nice to spend that time on the water.”
Williams does not think the canals have a problem with leaks and said she has some sympathy with the Canal and River Trust. Aside from dredging, she said she did not know what else could be done.
“I don't know what they can do really.”
Alan Berry also has a boat on the Coventry Canal at Tamworth and said water levels there were nine inches lower than normal. He said this summer was the third he had known like this, after 2016 and 2025, and that his boat was touching the bottom of the canal.
Berry said it was difficult to create new reservoirs, so the options open to the Canal and River Trust were limited.
“I don't suppose there's very much they can do apart from improve the maintenance,” he said.
He believes the solution may be a change in strategy.
“Maybe they need to start thinking about reducing the network to a size they can maintain,”
He added that he appreciated such a move would be “difficult to sell” to those canal users affected.
Hatton Locks on the Grand Union Canal have seen water levels reduced this summer.
The Canal and River Trust has been approached for comment and has agreed to be interviewed, but has not yet provided a statement.
Earlier this month it asked canal users to help conserve water after the Montgomery Canal at Llanymynech in Shropshire dried out completely, leaving one boat stranded and affecting swans, fish and ducks.
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has also been approached for a comment.
Earlier this year it said it had invested an additional £6.5m to “help build long-term resilience across the network and ensure it continues to operate safely”.
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