Friday 27 April 2012

Reservoir Watch


Bw has issued the reseervoir figures for April which are tabulated below.
The canals we plan to travel this year are highlighted in blue.
Inevitably a met officer on the radio this afternoon said htat we are getting the wrong kind of rain
His point was that we need rain in the winter months to fill the water table. At this time of the year most of what falls from the sky evaporates or gets consumed by springtimeplant growth.



Reservoir Watch 2012

Reservoir group
February
2012
holding
March 2012 holding
April
2012
holding
Change in Mar - Apr period
Minimum historical* April
holding (Year)
Crinan
97.3%
97.5%
89.3%
-8.2%
83.6%
(2001)
Monkland Canal
99.7%
99.7%
98.8%
-0.9%
90.3%
(2005)
Forth & Clyde Canal
73.7%
80.9%
100%
+19.1%
76.5%
(2002)
Union Canal
100%
100%
100%
0%
90.0%
(2007)
Kennet & Avon Canal
68.6%
55.8%
69.4%
+13.6%
69.4%
(2012)
Oxford & GU
39.5%
46.6%
55.8%
+9.2%
55.8%
(2012)
GU South
51.6%
60.7%
58.9%
-1.8%
58.9%
(2012)
GU North
32.2%
41.2%
48.2%
+7.0%
48.2%
(2012)
Lancaster Canal
100%
100%
100%
0%
95.4%
(2007)
Leeds & Liverpool Canal
97.0%
97.5%
87.8%
-9.7%
69.8%
(2009)
Peak Forest & Macclesfield Canal
95.8%
92.7%
95.0%
-2.3%
72.7%
(2003)
Caldon Canal
88.0%
89.7%
90.3%
+0.6%
85.9%
(2003)
Huddersfield Narrow Canal
100%
100%
91.1%
-8.9%
78.4%
(2003)
Chesterfield Canal
78.2%
81.1%
87.4%
+6.3%
78.2%
(2009)
Grantham Canal
85.5%
90.2%
96.3%
+6.1%
96.3%
(2012)
Birmingham Canal Navigations
29.6%
35.9%
39.6%
+3.7%
38.3%
(2011)
Staffs & Worcs, Shropshire Union
83.0%
85.5%
85.0%
-0.5%
77.8%
(2011)
* for the purposes of this analysis, historical holdings cover 1998-2012 reservoir holding data, inclusive.

Summary
March was an exceptionally mild month and the driest for the UK since 1953. Most of the country reported less than half the average rainfall, further intensifying the drought and extending its spatial extent. According to the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, much of the drought-affected region recorded only 30-40% of the March average rainfall. The winter recovery in groundwater levels has been extremely weak, river flows in March were more typical of late summer. Total river flow for the October-March period was the 2nd lowest (after 1975/6) in a record starting in 1961.

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