The Basingstoke Canal has issued a suspension Of Unpowered Boating in response to one of the driest periods for over a century. Parts of Basingstoke Canal are now reported to be experiencing significant water shortages, especially the sections between Aldershot and Brookwood. This is to protect both the delicate echo system and the canal users from submerged objects and a greater risk of disease.
Over this dry period, the canal’s team is working with the Angling Association and Environment Agency to monitor fish welfare. In other measures, navigation by boats using the waterway between Aldershot and Brookwood has already been suspended. However, now canoeing and paddlesports are to be suspended as the levels continue to fall.
Basingstoke canal guidance
- Please keep to the towpath and off the beaches forming at the side of the canal – avoid the margins, which can be deceptively muddy in some areas, and this also helps to protect wildlife.
- Please keep dogs under close control or on a lead – wildfowl have a smaller area to take shelter if startled, and your dog could become trapped in the mud.
- Keep yourself and dogs out of the water
This advice has been issued because:
- Stirring up mud reduces oxygen levels for fish and other wildlife
- There may be hidden objects much closer to the surface than normal
- Water can appear much deeper than it is posing a risk of injury
- Warm conditions promote the growth of algae – this could be dangerous to your dog
Navigation Update – Suspension Of Unpowered Boating On The Mytchett Pound
It is with regret that we are taking the unusual step of suspending all unpowered navigation on the Mytchett Pound of the Canal. This is the stretch of Canal between Ash Lock (Government Road, Aldershot) and Frimley Top Lock at Deepcut. Suspension of navigation includes all boats including rowing boats, kayaks, canoes, paddleboards and all similar manually propelled craft. The suspension will come into effect at 00:01 on Monday 15th August and will remain in place until water levels have recovered, at least back to today’s levels.
Due to the prolonged period of low rainfall and hot weather we can no longer sustain water levels in the Mytchett Pound and water levels have been gradually declining since mid-June. We are now at the point where by Monday it will no longer be safe for people to get into their boats at the edge of the Canal. Wading out into the channel is not safe or acceptable for a number of reasons; it means that the sediment is being churned, causing distress for fish and other wildlife who are already struggling for dissolved oxygen levels due to heat, likelihood of injury from submerged objects, and much greater potential of coming into contact with algae or water borne diseases (eg Weil’s disease).
We appreciate your cooperation in these unusual circumstances.
Whilst the Mytchett Pound is now closed, you can still enjoy paddling safely on the Hampshire Pound (Greywell to Ash Lock, Aldershot) and on the Hermitage and Woking Pounds of the Canal in Surrey, as we are able to sustain water levels in these areas at present.
Please also see the link to the press release from Hampshire County Council. It contains guidance about how to keep yourself and others safe.
Chloe Brown
Visitor Services Officer
Basingstoke Canal Authority
Mytchett Place Road
Mytchett
Surrey
GU16 6DD
01252 370073
www.basingstoke-canal.co.uk