Email: Keep a close eye

I hope that the more vigilant in the boating community will keep a close eye on the extent to which closures blamed on a lack of water really are justified, and not a means of alleviating pressured budgets.

If we look back over the history of the canal network, too many canals were lost, and then needed restoration, through the mechanism of temporary closures followed by all too rapid deterioration to the point at which it was possible to claim that navigation was no longer possible or cost-effective.

Closure not only saves on wear and tear but also hides the fact that water shortages are made much worse through the lack of maintenance on reservoirs.

Whilst we can all see the effect of inadequate gate maintenance, for example, reservoirs often look okay, even if their depth has been seriously reduced over decades of neglect. I understand that in some cases their effective capacity is but a fraction of its original design.

The lack of an outcry over this year's closures (and it amazes me how quiet everyone has been—this is surely more important than futile Trustee-bashing?) can only tempt British Waterways (and Canal & River Trust) into greater use of closures for budgetary reasons. Back to the days when maintenance stoppages led to no movement for several months of the year?

Mike Todd