Canal runs dry in parts as sun beats down on Wales

STARTLING pictures have emerged this week from the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal in Newport, where water levels have become so low that it’s almost nonexistent.

- JONATHON HILL

At Fourteen Locks in Rogerstone an extremely dry summer has caused the canal to dry up in parts of the more isolated sections in a disaster for the waterway, but those in charge of the main canal say it is not as a result of well-documented water abstraction issues.

It comes after a drought was declared in four parts of Wales for the first time in 50 years, including in parts of mid, south, and southeast Wales fed by the River Usk and the River Wye.

Earlier this year operators warned the main canal - which runs from Brecon to Cwmbran - would run dry in days after limits were placed on taking water from the environmentally sensitive River Usk.

In response the Canal and River Trust (CRT) has begun paying Welsh Water for water for the canal in a temporary measure, while the Welsh Government has pledged £5m in funding to ensure a healthy water supply to the canal in the long term.

Images which have emerged this week of particularly low water levels at the Monmouthshire and Brecon are in Two Locks in south Cwmbran, where residents say they're having to help the geese survive by giving them water, and Fourteen Locks in Rogerstone.

Neither of those locks is part of the main navigable canal which is overseen by CRT. These parts of the canal are operated by the individual local authorities and are fed by local streams and gullies.