'It's only going to get worse': Fears for canals amid drought threat

Canal users from around the West Midlands have raised concerns about falling water levels this summer.

They have also said the Canal and River Trust (CRT) and the government need to do more to prepare for future droughts.

Cheryl Howes, who has been running a boat company for 26 years on the Grand Union canal, said: "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, to reduce leakage and manager water flow.

It added that low flows were also exacerbated because of lock misuse and was in some instances 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.

Sarah Williams, who has a boat on the Coventry Canal, said: "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 the regions canal-users have seen restrictions and closures, but some routes are still open.

Dean Conduit, the owner of Warwickshire Narrowboat Hire on the Grand Union Canal, said: "We need to plan for the future of the canals."

He said this summer he was still open for business and was still getting bookings, but the Canal and River Trust needed to take action to "keep the water moving".

"It's not just for boats, it's for canoeists, paddle boards [and] people walking their dogs," he said.

The government also needed to act, he said, and added: "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 it brings in a lot of tourism and trade for businesses connected to the canal.

She has also continued getting bookings, and said canals were "an amazing way to spend some time", but that trade was down this summer, because of the closures last year.

She said: "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."

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.

Williams said she had not been able to get her boat 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.

The droughts over last two years were the worst she has seen, and she added: "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 has some sympathy with the Canal and River Trust.

Aside from dredging, she said: "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 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 suggested.

Although he said he appreciated that would be "difficult to sell" to those canal users affected.

Earlier this month the CRT 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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