Lock 62, Longmans Cottage to Lock 78, Kintbury Lock.

Please be advised that water levels are low between Lock 62, Longmans Cottage and Lock 78 Kintbury Lock.   The summer's hot weather and lack of rain means that our charity is doing all we can to save water and transfer the flow that's available to the right places on the network to meet demand.  The Met Office has said that parts of England have seen the longest unbroken spell of no recorded rainfall this century.   The situation with low flows can be exacerbated because of paddles that control water levels to allow boats to navigate can sometimes be misused, plus the ageing nature of the canal network.  The latter sees natural seepage away from the canal together with constant maintenance and repairs required at locks and elsewhere to reduce leakage and better manage water flow.    With the Met Office not forecasting any meaningful rain, we're putting measures in place to conserve water, including in some instances, restricting lock usage by boats. These measures are taken to preserve supplies and to keep navigations open for boating for as long as possible – managing supplies in our reservoirs and other sources (rivers, groundwater) that feed the canals - which at present is simply not being replenished.  We apologise for the disruption and thank you for your patience during these periods.   If you see that water levels are looking unusually low, please let us know. Our teams actively manage water levels and can carefully refill low pounds, checking for problems and making sure moored boats on adjacent pounds stay safe.    We're doing all we can to raise the income needed to keep the canals open and resilient, including to the 'new normal' weather, so that the network is here to benefit society and for all to use. Whilst we're targeting water saving repairs and maintenance this summer, it's a task that continues year-round, and this winter we're due to replace 130 lock gates across 24 different navigations, alongside the other vital repairs and maintenance we carry out every day to keep this 250-year-old hand-dug and hand-built canal network open.