Ouse news - Autumn 2021

Great Ouse Branch

Ouse News - Autumn 2021 Newsletter covering the Great Ouse and tributaries Contents:

IWA Festival: Worcester, 2021

Branch Committee

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Branch News

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Chairman’s Corner

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Appeal to members

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IWA Festival 2021

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Ivan Cane

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River News

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The Panama Canal

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Photo: Courtesy of Head Office

Campaigning for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and development of the Inland Waterways.

The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Inland Waterways Association or of the Great Ouse Branch. They are, however, published as being of interest to our members and readers.

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Great Ouse Branch Committee: Chairman: Keith Alderton Tel : 01366 727236 Secretary: John Hodgson Tel : 01234 344884 Treasurer: Enid Hodgson Tel : 01234 344884

Volunteer Coordinator: Gail Mead Tel: 01359 242967

Ouse News Editor: Carole Alderton Tel : 01366 727236

Member: Stephen Foote Tel: 01763 838936

Membership Officer: Peter Webb Tel: 01353 658581

We are a small, friendly group and would welcome another committee member to help us organise meetings and events. Please contact the editor.

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Branch News Winter Meetings are at 8.00 pm at the North Lodge Pavilion, North Lodge Park, Milton, CB24 6UD.

An illustrated talk by Simon Judge - Oxford to Cambridge by boat.

We welcome the following new members to the branch. We hope you will introduce yourselves to us when coming to an event or meeting:

T HURSDAY 24 TH M ARCH

Nicola & Daren Cole

T HURSDAY 24 TH F EBRUARY

2022

2022

This will be our Annual General

Andrew Lee

Meeting, together with an update from the Environment Agency.

Rita Noble David & Tracy Reed Marguerite & Mark Wilkinson

From your membership officer: I must give my apologies to any new Branch member that is not listed here.

Also during these strange times I have been unable to send a welcome letter and copy of the latest printed Newsletter.

Please remember that if you would like a posted, printed version of Ouse News then please contact Head Office or myself at peter.webb@waterways.org

If anyone is reading this newsletter and would like t o b e c om e a m e m be r, p l ea s e

co n t ac t

P et e r

Webb, our Membership Officer, on 01353 658581.

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Chairman’s Corner For most of us, with the onset of autumn, the boating season has all too soon come to an end. We will however still plan to squeeze in a couple of 3-day trips, which should be fun, even if we are only taking Watermist to be dry docked in order to have the hull inspected and blacked. The weather was kind to us over the summer as we enjoyed a week long cruise to Warwick, followed by a 5-week journey down the Oxford Canal to Oxford, up the River Thames to the head of navigation at Lechlade and then back down the Thames to Abingdon.

Locally, the Environment Agency’s proposals to alter the way navigation licence fees are calculated have been the subject of much debate. In the Anglian Region, fees have always been based purely on the length of a boat regardless of the beam. Hence the owners of long thin boats have historically paid more than short fat ones. The EA now intend to bring all regions into line with current practice used on the Thames and charge by area. This could result in a reduction in the licence fee for small cruisers and narrowboats and a large increase for mid-length widebeam boats. I personally consider the proposed method to be much more equitable, although other branch committee members hold strongly opposing views.

The proposed EA charge for my 55 ft. narrowboat would be broadly in-line with that charged by the Canal & River Trust. However, a CRT licence permits travel throughout all the canal and river system controlled by the Trust, but an EA licence would only cover the Anglian Region and would necessitate further licences if you wish to venture into other EA regions. The much higher fees charged by the EA for the Nene and Ouse compared with the Thames would appear to be hard to justify.

The overall 10% increase over 3 years may well prove to be in line with or lower than the anticipated rise in the CPI over the same period. However the EA intend to front-end-load it with a 6% rise in year 1.

Ouse News Page 5 What do you, the members, think about it all? Please write to the editor if you would like to contribute to the debate.

Once again I must make an appeal for members to come forward to join the branch committee. We are a diminishing and dare I say, an aging group of long standing stalwarts who urgently need your support (see page 6). Derek Bradley, former Branch Chairman and Regional Chairman has decided to hang up his windlass after serving on the branch committee for 27 years. I would like to thank him for his service and pass on your good wishes.

I am pleased to report that our first real live general meeting took place on the 28th October when we enjoyed a talk about the Panama Canal by our old friend Richard Thomas. It was great to be able to get together once again in person rather than via Zoom! I look forward to seeing you at future meeting, a full list of which is shown on page 3.

Keith Alderton

Advertising in Ouse News  Do you want to contact boating enthusiasts?  Advertisements cost £30 (+VAT) per half page or £60 (+VAT) for a whole page for a year.

 Three editions a year.  Circulation = 300 within 30 miles of Cambridge.

 Contact the Editor on 01366 727236 or (carole.alderton@waterways.org.uk)

Ouse News Page 6 An Appeal for New Committee Members Our longest serving committee member, Derek Bradley, resigned from the branch committee in September due to ill health. We are sad to see him go, as he had been an active committee member since 1994, holding the positions of Branch Chairman from 1995 to 2003 and Regional Chairman from 2003 until 2009.

The existing committee has been together for a very long time; Peter joined in 1996, Stephen 1998, Keith & John 2004, Enid & Carole 2010 and Gail 2014. As you can see, even our newest recruit has been on the committee for 7 years !!

So once again we are appealing for people to join the committee.

The Great Ouse committee embraces the slogan “Waterways for All” and that includes boaters, canoeists, paddleboarders, wild swimmers, walkers, nature lovers and fishermen, all of whom enjoy our lovely rivers. If you do any of the above activities, or are just keen to protect and develop our local waterways, then it would be super to have you join our committee so that we could benefit from your input and ideas.

We have 5 or 6 committee meetings a year when we plan and manage our 4 winter general meetings plus any branch outings. We also take a publicity/ sales tent to a couple of local fairs each year, ie at Reach & Ely. At present we hold committee meetings at the same venue as our general meetings ie North Lodge Pavilion in Milton as this is central to those who come from Bedford, Royston, Bury St Edmunds, Thetford and Ely areas, but we would be happy to consider alternative venues.

The committee also usually have a couple of get-together meals each year.

Our committee meetings have plenty of friendly banter and we even have an itemised place in the agenda for a drink and cake break !!

Ouse News Page 7 Branch events tend to follow a standard format, but we would welcome new ideas. We always ask at meetings and in Ouse News what members would like to do, but we hardly ever get any response. So please, even if you do not want to be on the committee, let us have your suggestions.

If you feel that you would like to join the branch committee, please contact the chairman or other committee member.

Peter Webb THE IWA FESTIVAL OF WATER 2021 At Perdiswell Park, Worcester, August 28/29/30th Having been cancelled in 2020 due to COVID, lock-downs and suchlike, IWA succeeded in bringing our annual festival back to life in Worcester at the end of August. We had hoped to go by boat but time defeated us – and IWA obligingly swapped our mooring booking for a camp-site spot.

The festival itself kicked off on the Friday evening with a quiz for boaters and campers. We teamed up with a few other intrepid visitors. We didn’t win but had lots of laughs.

Entry to the festival when it opened on Saturday was free of charge for the public and things quickly got busy. The weather was ‘sunny intervals’ as the Met Office says - even when the sun wasn’t out it wasn’t too cold.

There was the usual array of stalls, displays, entertainments (especially for the youngsters!) and a generous variety of food outlets all on site for the three days.

Ouse News Page 8 Sadly there were very few boating and chandlery stalls though. A walk up and down the towpath to see all the boats was delightful – though it was a bit disconcerting to see a few of them leaning at rather alarming angles on their moorings where the water level had dropped and they were firmly aground!

Sunday was equally busy and we enjoyed the bonus of a visit from kids and grandkids - who all had a super time and spent too much of their parents’ money (and mine too, come to think of it!). Lovely entertainments in the main marquee both during the day and in the evenings made it extra-special. Shame the bar didn’t sell lager – organisers please note – some of us don’t like ‘real ale’.

Bank Holiday Monday was very quiet. The weather was cold and gloomy and clearly the Worcester public had decided not to go out. By mid-afternoon our fellow campers and caravanners were packing up and leaving and by the evening the site had the usual forlorn ‘after the show’ look. And it was all over. In my view the organisers of this festival and all who contributed to it took a huge gamble – and it paid off. No-one could have known what government restrictions might be imposed due to COVID; not organisers, exhibitors, entertainers or visitors. In such circumstances the odd glitch can be forgiven – and there were one or two! And there was a serious shortage of both organisers and volunteers this year.

Keep an eye on the IWA website for the location and details of IWA Festival of Water in 2022. Heartfelt thanks to everyone; organisers, volunteers, boaters, campers,entertainers, stall-holders and visitors alike for a lovely event - and here’s to the next one!

Stephen Foote

Ouse News Page 9 Branch member, Ivan Cane, became an Honorary Life Member of the IWA in 2021 - 60 years a member!

I asked him some questions about his sixty years of membership: Q. How did you first become interested in Canals?

A. As a teen I spent too much time in Colchester Public Library, and loved collecting Esso Maps (at 6d each) . I read this fictional book about a group of children undertaking a mystery bike ride across England, and I followed the clues and story on the Esso maps. At one point they go onto a narrowboat and through a canal tunnel. Exploring the canal’s dotted lines on the map, I found that it went to London, Birmingham and beyond. I decided to find out more about canals, and in the well stocked library section there was this book, Introducing Canals by Charles Hadfield. I read it from cover to cover - fascinated. I moved onto Rolt’s Inland Waterways of England, De Mares Canals of England and of course Rolt’s Narrow Boat. I was hooked. I even asked for Introducing Canals to be my Form prize in 1959! I also persuaded my parents to hire a Deans Pleasure Boat from Christleton near Chester at the time. We managed to boat to Trevor Basin and Nantwich, including the Pontcysyllte aqueduct - and exploring the disused Frankton Lock flight.

Q. What inspired you to join the IWA? A. Using the Notes and Guides at the back of Hadfield’s book, I sent off for various hire boat brochures, and also juggled whether to join the Inland Waterways Preservation Society or the IWA, opting for the latter in early 1960. Soon I was the secretary of the River Stour Action Committee and a committee member of the 1961 Aylesbury Rally of Boats. In those days there was plenty of opportunity for the lay member to join in with activities.

Ouse News Page 10 I recall IWA branch trips on the Slough Arm, Great Ouse from Ely, the Trent and Mersey campaigning for the Derby Canal, and a weekend trip as part of the crew on Les Critchley’s boat for a protest cruise, on the Middle Levels, with the Peterborough Branch over Easter 1962. I was always keen to receive the IWA Bulletin, and the Windlass, the magazine of the Home & Counties Branch of the IWA. Q. What restoration projects have you been involved in?

A. Although the River Stour was my first “project”, the first muddy experiences were with David Hutchings on the Stratford on Avon - two weeks in total. I could bore you for an evening just talking about those. A family move to Norfolk saw me taking members of my Hunstanton Scout Group to the Stourbridge Sixteen digs for weekends away - experiences that they never forgot, especially as we were always offered the chance to leg a joey through Dudley Tunnel. After we moved to Staffordshire, I took youngsters from the Youth Club to the Dudley Canal restoration at Blower’s Green Locks. So I was very fortunate to have been involved in those pioneering days.

Q. How far have you travelled during this time?

A. By the 1970s, now married, my wife and I enjoyed many trips with Ernie Thomas’s Gailey Cruisers’ hire boats from Hatherton. One August we hired a two berth for three weeks for £90, travelling through Birmingham, via the Wyrley & Essington, and Grand Union to Norton Junction, Market Harborough, Leicester and back via Great Haywood Junction. We had intended to boat the Erewash, but ran out of time - that took another 45 years to achieve.

Ouse News Page 11 During this time, I had started to take youngsters, from my Walsall Wood School, on historical walks along the local canals, which often ended up with a trip on Malcolm Braine’s Cactus from Great Haywood . A move to a Derbyshire School followed, and here my wife and I decided to take a group of youngsters away, for a week’s camping, in the hold of a narrow boat. That was in 1976. For the next thirty years this became a regular annual trip for 13/14 year olds, supplemented by two Spring and Autumn long weekend trips for College students after our move to Norfolk in 1978, 48 trips in total (including one to the Grand Canal and River Barrow in Eire). From 1986, we used Graham Wigley’s Birmingham & Midland Canal Carrying Company’s boats, and each year aimed to visit even more remote spots and longer trips - with plenty of locks to get everyone tired at night.

So Gas Street to Norwood Tunnel on the Chesterfield, Northampton to Windsor via Limehouse and tidal Thames, Aylesbury to Goldalming, Stoke to Huddersfield, Liverpool to Bugsworth, Birmingham to Stoke then Llangollen, Whaley Bridge to Gas Street via the Manchester Ship Canal, Leicester ring, Avon ring and nearly every part of the BCN. Following my retirement from School in 2006, I bought a Wilderness Trailboat, so that we could visit those Canals I hadn’t been able to visit on a 70 footer. So, the Grand Western, Royal, Leeds and Liverpool, Rochdale, River Glen, Welshpool, Witham Navigable Drains, Northern Reaches and my favourite - the Brecon and Abergavenny.

It was at this time that I became involved in the restoration project on the North Walsham & Dilham Canal, and, having my boat based on the Wissey, when not trailing, have explored the Great Ouse and tributaries, Middle Levels - always trying to get that bit further - Methwold Lode, Horseway Sluice, Santon Downham and the Soham Lode.

Q. How do you see the future for the IWA? A. I have two concerns about the IWA. First, it seems to be moving away from attracting the layman, much appears to be aimed at boaters or larger scaled events. If there is a Branch cruise - why not invite non boaters to join a crew - as I did with Les Critchley in 1962?

Ouse News Page 12 The Ipswich IWA ran successful weekend trips for its members, the campaign cruises on the Slough Arm and Erewash were open to all, the big digs such as Ashtac attracted hundreds. Today’s activities are all too “safe” and controlled. Which leads me to my second concern. Would I today, as a 15 year old, be attracted to join? I dug muck out of Stourbridge 16 locks with 14 year olds, today they are allowed to make bird boxes. My 13/14 y.o. crews catered for themselves, lockwheeled through Walsall, bow-hauled a butty across the Huddersfield Narrow. They were treated as equals to other adults working the canals at the same time. We are losing by not reaching out to that age range with proper challenges. On the other hand the IWA, the Restoration Hub and WRGies do much to extend our canal system - but, is it just for the silver generation?

Q. Where would you still like to visit?

A. When we were twelve, my mate and I used to play on Stratford St Mary Lock (River Stour), pulling the chains to lift the paddles, opening and shutting the gates. (Even then there was a bund above, so we weren’t really able to use it). Although, a couple of years ago it was restored, I’ve still not been through it by boat. My ideal would be to take my trailboat on the Lower Stour - but the EA wouldn’t allow it - even though my paid up licence covers the River Stour.

Thank you for that insight into your past, your views and future a s pi r a t i o n s I v a n - m u c h appreciated.

Carole Alderton, Editor

Ouse News Page 13 River News from the Environment Agency Waterways Operations Team Leader (Gt. Ouse and Stour Navigations) Paul Separovic

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Bridge Boatyard Bridge Road Ely, Cambs CB7 4DY

email info@bridgeboatyard.com Website www.bridgeboatyard.com Telephone 01353 663726

Moorings in marina and on riverside in historic Ely. Close to rail station.

Repairs and servicing Engineering and glassfibre workshops Slipway Suppliers of diesel, gas and coal Authorised Nanni dealership Gas safe engineer

Ouse News Page 15 Nov 2021 to Apr 2022 Waterways Winter Works Programme Our winter stoppages season traditionally starts from the 1st November every year and runs through to the day before Good Friday in the following year. For this year that equates to winter stoppages running from 1st November 2021 through to and including Thursday 14th April 2022. This doesn’t mean that all affected sites will be closed for this entire duration and some works are able to be undertaken either under a navigation restriction or without impacting navigation at all. The weather at this time of the year and because of the location of works on the river can also often interfere with programmes and cause delays and postponements.

For these reasons if you intend to navigate throughout the winter it is essential to double check firstly the river conditions to ensure it is safe to navigate and to see if there are any planned works , closures, restrictions or advisories that may affect your journey. There are a number of ways to do this;  Check River Conditions either by calling Floodline on 0345 988 11 88, select option ‘1’ for Flood Warning Information and General Advice for England, then option ‘1’ again for flood warnings in your area and river information for boaters. You can then listen to any existing messages or select option ‘2’ to get messages for another area. Select Option ‘1’ to enter a ‘quick dial code’ and when prompted enter ‘033211’ for the Bedford Ouse from Bedford to St Ives or ‘033212’ for St Ives to Hermitage Lock or visit our Environment Agency website: www.gov.uk/environmentagency  You can also look up River Advice for Boaters via our TeamUp shared online calendar at; https://teamup.com/ks95856e13ff0fd3b1  To check for the latest navigation notices on the River Great Ouse for closures, restrictions, advisories and events please see; https:// teamup.com/ks95856e13ff0fd3b1 Or;

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News & Views Do you have an article, comment or photo you would like to share? We would be very pleased to receive it! Contact the editor: carolealderton@waterways.org.uk

Ouse News Page 17  Go to our Anglian Waterways website; https:// www.visitanglianwaterways.org/navigation-notices-great-ouse Please also note that closure periods are subject to change and additionally Houghton, Hemingford, Cardington and Bedford Lock also have scheduled works planned but the final dates are still to be confirmed.

However some are also likely to be in November 2021 so please check before travel.

Pollinator paradise along the River Great Ouse Over the last 18 months the Anglian waterways team have been working hard to create a pollinator paradise along the River Great Ouse and its navigable tributaries.

Biodiversity and boaters are benefiting from wildflowers, bird boxes, bee hives, bee hotels and shrubbery which was installed by the Environment Agency along the river.

In total the following have been introduced along the river Great Ouse: • 7,000 bulbs •

1,000m2 of wildflower strips (the equivalent of four tennis courts)

•

600 metres of native hedging

•

120 lavender plants

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60 bird boxes

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A bee hive with more than 40,000 bees

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2 large bee hotels.

Dick Milthorp, a member of the Waterways Workforce, who has been instrumental to this project, said: “Our work doesn’t end here, we are planning to add more wildflower strips to Eaton Socon landing stage, Godmanchester and Brownshill. We have also got more hedging to plant as well as bluebells, wild garlic and more.” During the autumn the Environment Agency also plans to plant wildflowers across approximately three acres of the Denver Complex. The plants will be a combination of flowers suitable for shady and dry conditions.

Ouse News Page 18 Wildflower Seed Mix Summer 2021

Ben’s Bees at Denver Lock

Floating Pennywort and Invasive Non-Native Species Update We’re delighted to be able to inform and update you that the release of the Floating Pennywort weevil, Listronotus elongatus, has received ministerial approval. The Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI) is anticipating a shipment of weevils from Argentina which, once they have been disease/parasite checked, will provide the breeding stock for the release population.

We will be working with CABI and the rest of the GB Biocontrol Steering Group to identify release sites. Regrettably, a bid to the Green Recovery Challenge Fund to integrate biocontrol releases with our volunteer-based strategy proved unsuccessful, but we still hope to integrate the biocontrol into a strategic approach to Floating Pennywort management where funding permits. Biocontrol releases require a robust monitoring programme, hence the need for funding.

Ouse News Page 19 In 2011 we were instrumental in securing Water Framework Directive (WFD) funding to initiate this research, which was subsequently funded directly from Defra. It is too early to say how effective the weevil will prove in managing floating pennywort, but we hope it will provide an important element to our approach to managing this weed in the future.

It will also compliment efforts and eventually act as another tool in the box for our Floating Pennywort Control Programme for the River Great Ouse and the navigation system. We now have active control programmes fully underway on the Bedford and Ely Ouse Systems and it is thanks to these that you will have seen a large reduction in the amount of Floating Pennywort out on the river this season. In fact, compared to other previous years, there has hardly been any mention of it until just recently.

This is not surprising given that the crescendo of the growth season is around September / October and it is only around then when sightings were really reported. Further follow up surveying, hand picking and larger scale mechanical removal will continue, also combined with spray treatments at effective times of the year. Alongside the introduction of the weevil there is now a better chance than there ever has been of either eradicating or managing this highly invasive waterways menace down to a controlled level that is much less likely to impact navigation and waterways activities and is the culmination of much hard work over many years and with a high amount of investment.

Now that the volume of Floating Pennywort across the system has been managed down we are also now ordering and going to display signage on the river to indicate where the biosecurity quarantine zones are located upon the river; between Hemingford and Hermitage, between Denver and Salters Lode on the Tidal River and on the Great Ouse Relief Channel between the Relief Channel Lock and Downham Market.

Ouse News Page 20 Fluctuating River Levels, Issue as a Result and Living Life on the Tilt This previous season and year has been one in which there has been a lot of changes and many swings. The rivers have been no exception to this and river levels have also been extremely changeable. This has been the case across the whole Great Ouse System, initially over winter we saw some severe flooding which affected not only the navigation but people’s homes, businesses and their livelihoods. Last winter seems a long time ago now, especially staring down the barrel of the approaching winter, but there were some very high levels reached and was probably the worst flooding I’ve seen on the river in my 20 odd years and since the 1998 floods.

This has had long lasting impacts on the river, some of which may last for a while longer yet. One issue caused over the whole river was scouring and subsequent deposition of material, usually downstream of locks and just general debris from the flood water that got strewn all over the navigation and structures and has likely been the cause of some navigation obstructions this season.

In terms of shoaling we had significant amounts at Brandon and cleared the navigation channel at the lock soon afterwards. There is now a fair stretch of water beyond the navigation channel that is very shallow which needs a repeat visit to address. Denver and Salters Lode which are cleared near enough annually and sometimes twice a year now, at Castle Mills, cleared in the spring and Godmanchester also cleared in the spring. In addition there is still further work required at Twenty Pence bends on the Old West, downstream of Hemingford and likely a few other spots. All of which materialised after the high flow and level events on the river. Another effect, especially on the Ely Ouse and lower end of the navigation from Littleport down to Denver has been when the levels were lowered rapidly and deeply to prevent flooding occurring in Ely, Cambridge and surrounding areas. This caused a number of bank slippages which affected many of our lower Ely Ouse visitor moorings.

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Ouse News Page 22 There have been numerous comments on them this year as for Health and Safety of river users they have had to be closed and fenced off to prevent use and keep people safe. Whilst this is frustrating the fencing is there for your safety so please do not interfere or moor against it and report it to our incident line (0800 80 70 60) if you see any that has been damaged or vandalised. Through the Flooding Recovery Programme, a bit of good news is that the Littleport Station Road mooring is going to get re-piled this winter.

The remainder of the affected moorings are all residing with our Waterways Assets team to organise repairs and whilst we have been getting some good Government Capital Settlements there is a lot of work competing for funding and priority is always given to those assets that allow navigation on the river, such as locks. So those facilities such as moorings that support navigation tend to be lower down the priority list; they are however noted and on the radar but will inevitably take time to resolve. I know this won’t be popular but it is the reality of the current situation.

Elswhere on the Bedford Ouse we have been contending with fluctuating levels from Bedford right down through to Earith. Sometimes this is natural and as a result of either higher than usual amounts of rainfall or not enough of it. On other occasions it’s down to intentional or unintentional activity, such as the testing of sluices or log jams getting under sluices, or power failures or malfunctioning gate controls. More recently we have also had the results of abstraction activity combined with gate control reactivity causing the depletion of levels on certain reaches.

The effects of all this are quite varied but impact especially on those living on the river and those that depend on the river for their business such as marina’s, boat hire businesses etc. For those living aboard it can literally mean living their life on the tilt, even just a small tilt of around 5 degrees can really impinge on your ability to live aboard causing issues when carrying out the simplest of everyday tasks such as making a cup of tea, showering or washing clothes as drainage becomes an issue and everything is not on a

Ouse News Page 23 level. For houseboats, service umbilicals can be put under strain and for all boats it can test mooring lines and leave boats bottomed out and stranded.

In turn this can cause risks and issues for infrastructure such as utility services and moorings, so the impact is pretty wide spread and challenging.

So too are the causes and variables involved behind the levels going up and down. It is not until these are fully understood and all inputs considered that the issues can be resolved; often this has to be done on a case by case basis and this can vary at the same location at different points throughout the year. Some things it does focus the mind on however are that pressures will only increase into the future. Climate Change will mean greater extremes and challenging conditions will persist and population growth, density and development will all need to utilise the same limited resources to live, work and recreate within.

This all points to taking proactive action now to minimise or reduce the impacts that are being experienced now and could come in the future but this will only be achieved by considering the wider picture and context whilst working in partnership with others, both at an organisational and individual level to achieve results. The scale of issues can be quite daunting but results can be achieved, the momentum and collaboration just needs to keep pace with the changing variables all of the time and in truth it will be the balance that is struck between these that will determine if we can collectively adapt to the changing environment that is inevitably coming / going to come.

Moorings at Littleport closed after slippage

Ouse News Page 24 Environment Agency Navigation Charges Review Closes The Environment Agency has recently finished consulting on a Navigation Charges Review which ran from 22nd June 2021 and closed on the 16th September 2021. We were consulting on a number of things in relation to boat registration: a proposed new charging framework to ensure a consistent charge scheme across all our waterways  proposed annual increases in the charges for a 3 year period from 1 January 2022  proposed changes to the requirements for registration of business boats In addition, we wanted your views on some future proposals that included:  online boat registration  boat naming and identification  charging on the River Wye  introduction of a rolling year to our boat registration charges 

Overall we had in excess of over 1000 responses to the consultation and a fair proportion of those originated from the Anglian Waterways river users.

Whilst it is still too early at present to report back on any detail, the results are now being processed, analysed and worked through. Further communications and stakeholder engagement will follow as a result. However, in the meantime, we wanted to thank all those who took the time to respond and inform us of their views on what proved to be a very emotive subject.

Note: It is understood that following the consultation process, the EA has taken account of the points raised and will be revising their proposals. Stake holders will be advised of the changes on 2nd December.

Keith Alderton

Ouse News Page 25 PRESS RELEASE – THURSDAY 18 NOVEMBER Water companies could face legal action after investigation launched into sewage treatment works The Environment Agency (EA) and Ofwat have launched a major investigation into sewage treatment works, after new checks led to water companies admitting that they could be releasing unpermitted sewage discharges into rivers and watercourses.

This investigation will involve more than 2000 sewage treatment works, with any company caught breaching their legal permits facing enforcement action, including fines or prosecutions. Fines can be up to 10% of annual turnover for civil cases, or unlimited in criminal proceedings.

In recent years the EA and Ofwat have been pushing water companies to improve their day-to-day performance and meet progressively higher standards to protect the environment.

As part of this, the EA has been checking that water companies comply with requirements and has asked them to fit new monitors at sewage treatment works. This is to make sure the right levels of wastewater are being treated before overflows are allowed to enter the environment.

Following this action by the EA, several water companies have now revealed that many of their sewage treatment works may not be compliant.

This would mean that water companies are in breach of their permits and failing to meet their legal duties.

EA and Ofwat are now looking into all water and sewerage companies to assess the scale of the problem.

Any company caught breaching these minimum standards will face a range of possible enforcement action – up to and including prosecution.

Ouse News Page 26 The Government has been repeatedly clear that the amount of sewage discharged into our waters by water companies is unacceptable, and has taken direct action to accelerate progress in tackling it.

Through the Environment Act, it has introduced clear new duties to legally require water companies to make progressive reductions in the adverse impacts of storm overflows.

Any water companies not abiding by their permits are also expected to take immediate action to urgently address any non-compliance while these investigations are ongoing.

The Panama Canal At our October meeting, Richard Thomas gave a fascinating presentation outlining the history, construction and operation of the Panama Canal.

The story begins in 1502 when Christopher Columbus visits Limon Bay on the east coast of Panama. He was followed by Vasco Nunez de Balboa who was first to cross the isthmus to the Pacific in 1532. The first survey for a route for the canal was made in 1534, but considered the construction of a canal to be impossible at that time.

Frenchman Count Ferdinand deLesseps (successful builder of the Suez Canal) finally began the construction of a sea level canal in 1880, however, geological problems and an outbreak of yellow fever brought the project to a halt and the company went into liquidation leaving many investors destitute. The French effort to build the canal cost an estimated 20,000 lives prior to the project being abandoned in 1889.

Ouse News Page 27 In 1906 approval was given for an American military project to construct a high-level locked canal. The project involved damming the river Gaton to form a large lake 85 feet above sea level, connected to the canal a flight of locks at the pacific end and 2 flights of locks at the Atlantic end.

The canal was officially opened in1914. Yellow fever, malaria and accidents cost the lives of another 5,600 construction workers. The 48 mile long canal proved to be a great success as it saved ships travelling between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; the 8,000 mile journey around Cape Horn.

The original canal could accommodate ships to what became known as ‘Panamax’ specification i.e. 106 feet wide x 965 feet long. In recent years increasing demand has necessitated the canal to be expanded to cope with larger vessels. New larger locks have been constructed at Agua Clara and Cocoli to the ‘New Panamax’ specification i.e. 168 feet wide x 1,200 feet long. Opened in 2016, the new locks operate in parallel with the original ones.

Many thanks to Richard for a most interesting evening.

Keith Alderton

Ouse News Page 28

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