\n<\/p>\n
Britain\u2019s network of canals and rivers is under strain from funding shortfalls and growing climate pressures, campaigners warn.<\/p>\n
Three-quarters of the country\u2019s waterways face financial peril, according to the Inland Waterways Association (IWA), an independent charity advocating for Britain\u2019s canals and rivers, as the country braces for heavier winter rainfall and intensifying summer droughts.<\/p>\n
The IWA has published a first-of-its-kind climate risk map showing that 99% of navigable waterways will face heightened risk under a predicted 2C global heating scenario.<\/p>\n
Areas of concern include the Pennines and the Midlands, where higher-ground reservoirs feed several canal systems and where droughts are expected to worsen. Sections of the Leeds and Liverpool canal were closed from May to September due to low water levels.<\/p>\n
Waterways provide free public access to nature for more than 10 million people, save the NHS an estimated \u00a31.5bn annually, support more than 80,000 jobs and act as green corridors for wildlife, according to the Canal & River Trust (CRT).<\/p>\n
The trust manages about 2,000 miles of waterways, including roughly 80% of Britain\u2019s navigable canals. Nearly 80% of local authorities have a navigable waterway in their area.<\/p>\n
The collapse of the Bridgewater canal embankment at Dunham Massey on New Year\u2019s Day this year highlighted the network\u2019s vulnerability. Despite being well maintained, a large section gave way after heavy rainfall, flooding neighbouring fields and a nearby sewage works.<\/p>\n
Nearly 1,000 people were evacuated from their homes and stabilisation has cost about \u00a3400,000, with full permanent repair costs unclear. Charlie Norman, the IWA\u2019s director of campaigns, described it as a warning. \u201cInfrastructure can fail catastrophically even when well maintained. Climate pressures alone are enough to cause serious damage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Norman said underfunding compounded the impact of rising climate pressures. \u201cDecades of erratic government support along with more frequent extreme weather events have left many waterways vulnerable to breaches, closures and mounting maintenance costs,\u201d he said. \u201cThis year\u2019s drought led to the closure of dozens of canals across the country, affecting wildlife, tourism, businesses, and people living on the canals.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Defra spokesperson said: \u201cOur canals and rivers provide a wide range of benefits, such as connecting people to nature. That is why we are investing more than \u00a3480m of grant funding to the CRT to support essential infrastructure maintenance of our much-valued waterways.\u201d<\/p>\n
The spokesperson said navigation authorities had independent responsibility for maintaining canal networks, safety and resilience against climate change.<\/p>\n
The CRT receives the largest share of government funding for waterways but rising climate-related demands mean state support remains insufficient to maintain its network.<\/p>\n
Campbell Robb, the CRT chief executive, said: \u201cEmergency repairs alone cost our charity \u00a310m last winter after eight named storms. We need the support of the public in the unrelenting task to look after and keep the canals open and thriving, including more people volunteering and donating money. The government recognises the role it also needs to continue to play to help our charity keep the network open and safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.<\/span><\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n After the CRT, the remaining 20% of the canal network and about 3,000 miles of navigable waterways are overseen by authorities including the Environment Agency, Scottish Canals, the Broads Authority, and smaller independent bodies.<\/p>\n For its risk map, the IWA graded navigation authorities from severe deficit (red) to financially stable (green). About 75% fell into red or amber categories, including the Environment Agency and the Cam Conservancy, which acknowledged it could not meet all its commitments.<\/p>\n Stoppages, such as at Jesus Green and Baits Bite Lock on the River Cam, show how network isolation harms local businesses and navigation. David Goode, the chair of the Cam Conservancy, said: \u201cEven in a good year our fees barely cover running costs.\u201d He called a \u00a3500,000 contribution from the local mayor towards the \u00a31.6m Baits Bite Lock stabilisation a \u201clife-saver\u201d but added: \u201cOne-off grants won\u2019t solve longer-term problems.\u201d Jesus Green Lock remains indefinitely closed.<\/p>\n In addition to closures and climate damage, rising litter is a daily challenge. Elena Horcajo spends two hours each morning collecting waste along the Regent\u2019s canal after the CRT removed towpath bins, citing untenable maintenance costs. The trust now relies on reactive litter clearance using staff and volunteers, but Horcajo says CRT-led volunteer clean-ups fail to manage the problem.<\/p>\n The IWA is calling for a government review to define sustainable, long-term funding. Norman said: \u201cMillions now will save billions in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n He said increased government investment would allow authorities to reinforce infrastructure, reduce flood risk and support water transfer schemes to alleviate drought, protecting navigation, heritage, economic activity and environmental benefits.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout intervention, this vital, historic network faces irreversible decline by 2050,\u201d Norman said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Britain\u2019s network of canals and rivers is under strain from funding shortfalls and growing climate pressures, campaigners warn. Three-quarters of the country\u2019s waterways face financial peril, according to the Inland Waterways Association (IWA), an independent charity advocating for Britain\u2019s canals and rivers, as the country braces for heavier winter rainfall and intensifying summer droughts. The<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[841,1185,18411,186,584,3371,7645,1791,4449,1952],"class_list":{"0":"post-31814","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-britains","9":"tag-campaigners","10":"tag-canals","11":"tag-climate","12":"tag-face","13":"tag-funds","14":"tag-lack","15":"tag-pressures","16":"tag-rivers","17":"tag-warn"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}