00:00Edgbaston Reservoir is not just a patch of water for dog walkers and joggers,
00:05it's the beating heart of Birmingham's Canal Network.
00:08Built to feed the system almost two centuries ago,
00:12it still helps maintain the levels that keep our locks working
00:15and our towpaths from turning into puddles of sludge.
00:19But as levels across the UK drop, I wanted to know what's happening here,
00:23so I met with Richard Preston from the Canal & River Trust,
00:26the man in charge of operations across the West Midlands
00:29and asked how the current situation is affecting Birmingham's canals.
00:34So, Canal & River Trust as a charity, we manage 23 reservoirs across West Midlands,
00:39so Edgbaston isn't the only water source that we have.
00:42You see that the reservoir behind me has about 65% capacity
00:46and we'd normally expect there to be around about a metre higher
00:51than where we are currently at this time of year.
00:53If the weather continues and we do have to put restrictions in place,
00:56that's normally in the form of overnight closures, prioritising certain routes and certain assets.
01:03And in some parts of the country that's going to become more prevalent as the summer goes on
01:08if this dry weather continues.
01:09But thankfully in Birmingham we're quite resilient and we've got enough resource for now.
01:15Lower levels don't just mean less water for boats, they knock on to maintenance schedules,
01:20route access and pressure on teams trying to keep the system functional without draining the reserves.
01:25Add to that the weight of public use, from rowing clubs to swimmers and it becomes a juggling act.
01:31The Canal and River Trust's job is to keep the balance from tipping,
01:34and that means managing supply across a huge network of connected sites.
01:39Here's how they're going about it.
01:41So we have a team of hydrologists who manage our water levels along with our operational staff and volunteers.
01:47So they're keeping a close eye on water usage based on a normal year
01:52and then they're able to tell us how much water we should be using or where water demands are needed.
01:59That's really important, not just for the boats, but also for some of our tunnels and our bridges.
02:06It's important that they're kept in water and also the wildlife that uses our canal system through the city.
02:14We're in an era where climate patterns are more erratic
02:17and water's becoming an asset that needs managing like any other bit of infrastructure.
02:22What makes things tricky is that the canals weren't built for efficiency, they were built for horses and cargo.
02:28So the Trust now has to work with both engineering from the 1800s and expectations from the 2020s.
02:35I asked what tools and techniques they're using to respond to these kinds of pressures.
02:40Obviously in Birmingham, we have a number of water sources.
02:45That's particularly important is surface water flow.
02:48And with the rain or lack of rain, we've just not had that flow into our canals.
02:54So we need to make sure that we've got enough resource to last the whole of the summer.
02:59orbit.
03:00ありがとうございます.
03:01Hopefully I've got enough research.
03:18Yes.
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