We're calling on support to help secure the future of the waterway after legislation was enacted that severely restricts the supply of water that feeds the canal.
Disastrous for the canal environment
The ‘Mon & Brec’ has been part of the Welsh landscape for 225 years. Since its construction, the canal’s principal feed of water has been from the nearby River Usk. But now changes in legislation, which place strict limitations on the water that can be drawn from the Usk, bring the prospect that, after more than two centuries, the canal could run dry.
Ensuring the canal has enough water is not only essential for boaters, but also to sustain the numerous boating and other tourism jobs in South Wales that rely on it. The prospect of the canal running dry for periods at any time river levels drop will also be disastrous for the canal environment including fish, invertebrates, mammals and birds.
We've appealed but was unable to change a decision to place limitations on the water being drawn from the Usk because the narrow legal process was not able to take any account of the impacts on the canals despite the economic, social and environmental harm that will be caused. Consequently, we now face the prospect of insufficient water to keep the canal open in the coming months.
Impacting boaters, jobs and wildlife
Mark Evans, our regional director, explains: "Since the canal was built at the end of the 18th Century, it has drawn most of its water from the River Usk.
"However, the application of 21st Century changes in legislation means that supply of water is now severely limited. The prioritisation of the River Usk, without an alternative supply of water in place, has serious consequences for the integrity of the canal, impacting boaters, jobs and wildlife along this ecologically-rich waterway.
"This poses a serious long-term risk to the future of the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal and we're faced with the unwanted choice between severely restricting usage of the canal or, if it can be supplied from elsewhere, having to pay high costs for an alternative source of water.”
Investigating other alternatives
We're in discussion with Dŵr Cymru to investigate potential alternative water supply options, but with no solution in sight that is affordable to the charity, it is calling for support from Welsh Government to work out a solution that supports both the River Usk and the much-loved canal.
Evans continued: "We're encouraging people to speak to their local politicians to highlight the importance of the canal to them, our environment, the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park and the local economy. The canal is an important destination and brings millions of pounds into the local area.
"We are doing all we can to secure the future of the canal but need support so the Mon & Brec can continue to play an important role in this part of South Wales, as it has done for over 200 years."
