Lancaster Canal boaters frustrated by water shortage

Boaters on the Lancaster Canal say they cannot use the waterway in their boats, due to low water levels caused by drought and supply issues.

Boat owner Mark Sadler said measuring devices in the canal showed it was down at least 20cm (8ins) and "there are certain sections where you can't get into anymore because it's just too shallow".

Navigation restrictions due to low water levels have been in place along the 41 mile (66km) canal since 9 July, with the canal closed completely for a week.

The Canal and River Trust said 20-25 million litres of water flowed into the canal from the Killington Lake in Cumbria every day and it was doing its best to manage leaks across the 200-year-old canal.

Sadler, who lives aboard his boat on the canal, said on the days he visited the feeder stream from Killington, he noticed reduced water flows coming into the canal in comparison to previous years.

He said: "My boat is 2ft 2in in terms of the depth of water it requires, so anything less than that and I'm grounded, so very small changes in water levels actually make a huge difference as to whether it's a pleasurable boating experience or whether you're struggling."

He said that the hot and dry summer would have lowered the water level in the canal, "but not to the point where we are now".

Amanda Taylor-Beswick bought a boat in the last month, but has been so far unable to use it "because the water levels are too low".

She believes leaks and maintenance issues are key factors in the water level issues.

"You could have low water and the canal well maintained, dredged, and cleaned, and therefore you're not going to come into problems," she said.

"It's a very difficult circumstance to be in, given the cost of the boat, the moorings, the licence fees.... the best we can do is sit on the boat really."

Mark Jones, who runs Kingfisher Cruises on the canal, said he has had to cancel a number of bookings.

"We operate from Barton Grange and from Lancaster and the problem is now we can't get to Lancaster from Barton Grange because the water's too low," he said.

"Three weeks ago, we had to leave Lancaster early, we had a week's worth of bookings still to go up there, but we had to leave."

He said cancellations have so far cost the business £1,500 and by the end of the summer he could have lost £5,000 worth of bookings.

"It costs us about £15,000 to operate in the first place before we make a penny with insurance, licences, marina fees," he said.

He said the Trust has "solved a few problems and the water's stabilised," but "that should have been done in May, June time" adding that "it's too late now".

Angela Parkinson-Green, from the Canal and River Trust, said there are "some leakage issues" which have been happening "for a long time" due to the canal's age.

She confirmed Mark Sadler's research, that suggested Killington was between 80-85% capacity.

She said the Trust was limited in the amount of water it could take from the lake and put into the canal due to "abstraction licenses" with land owners, which meant it could not "take more water than we're actually allowed".

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