Canal water supply ‘dried up and almost non-existent in places’

Pollution concerns have forced the closure of a culvert in Risca, fuelling speculation about water supply problems for the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal.

Legal changes and a dry 2025 have led to worrying scenes along the canal, especially at its lower end in Newport.

Utilities firm Welsh Water has agreed to supply extra water to the Mon and Brec during the current financial year – but with the clock ticking on a long-term solution, a councillor from Rogerstone has called on decision-makers to speed up their efforts.

“The biodiversity and the wildlife are suffering or moving elsewhere, and all the great work being done by the staff at the visitor centre to promote the area as a tourist attraction is being undone whilst there continues to be no water in the canal,” said Cllr Chris Reeks.

In a question to Newport City Council’s leader, Cllr Reeks said “the water supply has dried up and is almost non-existent in places, with one of the causes attributed to the deliberate lack of waterflow from the Caerphilly County Borough Council area”.

Cllr Dimitri Batrouni, who leads the Newport authority, said a culvert in Risca’s Manor Road “was closed by Welsh Water due to contamination”.

Welsh Water confirmed a culvert had been “blocked off as mitigation against pollution events”.

The firm said it was working alongside environmental agency Natural Resources Wales on “misconnections, where waste pipes on properties have erroneously been connected to a drainage-only network”.

However, the water supply from that culvert is not believed to be a “strategic source of canal water” and is fed by land and property drainage, “so would provide limited flows during such a dry period”.

“We would be happy to work with the council to discuss the work being done and how to reopen the culvert without environmental impact,” a Welsh Water spokesperson added.

The Mon and Brec’s water supply has dried up since legal changes restricted how much water could be taken from the River Usk to keep the canal topped up – as well as the impacts of a dry spring and summer.

According to the Canal and River Trust, which manages the Mon and Brec, the River Usk at Brecon provides “around 80% to 90% of the water required to meet water demands” on the canal.

Legal restrictions on water abstraction have left the canal facing a “precarious future”, according to the Trust, which said it “can’t afford to pay significant and prohibitive amounts each year, on top of the already substantial investment into the canal, to secure the basic water supply that it has depended on for over 200 years”.

Cllr Reeks has also sought assurances that recent maintenance works in the Newport area had not caused or exacerbated the canal’s current problems.

“Whilst the Rogerstone arm of the canal has run dry, the Caerphilly arm of the canal [on] the opposite side of Pontymason Lane is holding water,” he said. “Can the leader confirm that the recent works to reline the canal to the Fourteen Locks has been successful, and it is not a failure of the lining that is responsible for the lack of water?”

Cllr Batrouni, along with the cabinet member for climate, Cllr Yvonne Forsey, said “relining works have been successful, and lack of water is linked to weather conditions and limited amounts of water coming down from upper sections, and not to losses within Newport boundaries”.

In July, the Welsh Government said it would set up a ‘task and finish group’ to tackle the Mon and Brec’s supply issues and “find a long-term sustainable, workable solution to the difficulties faced by the canal”.

“The public strength of feeling and support for the canal is evident, and I share the common goal of supporting the canal while addressing the urgent environmental challenges that threaten the ecological status of the River Usk,” said Huw Irranca-Davies, the deputy minister for climate change, at the time.