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 2^nd lowest (after 1975/6) in a record starting in 1961.