The section of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal between Greenberfield and Gargrave was closed to navigation for 4 weeks in the autumn, due to low water levels. Whilst Foulridge Reservoirs were very low, there was water in Winterburn Reservoir. But BW is legally obliged to maintain a minimum flow into Eshton Beck. This means that they have to maintain a certain amount of water in the reservoir to supply the beck rather than the canal. The amount of compensation flow that BW are legally obliged to maintain, as set down in the 1891 Act of Parliament that covered the building of Winterburn Reservoir, has not changed since the reservoir was built but it is more closely monitored now than in the past. At the autumn User Group Meeting with BW, users asked that in future dry summers, reasonable restrictions to conserve water should be introduced earlier to make the water last longer and hopefully avoid closure. On the other side of the Pennines, work starts in 2006 on the Liverpool Canal Link which will connect the canal to Albert Dock and is due to be completed by the end of 2007. River Ouse The City of York Council has made some improvements to the Museum Gardens sanitary station including fitting a new BW type water point. Rochdale Canal The breach to the canal embankment close to the River Irk Aqueduct is to be repaired in 2006. It is hoped that the work will be completed by May. A temporary back pumping scheme was installed at Sowerby Bridge when BW had to stop pumping water from the River Calder at Luddenden Foot, due to reaching the limit of their extraction license. Unfortunately it was struck by vandals one evening who disconnected the output pipes and sent water pouring into the River Calder, causing some erosion to the riverbank.
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