Using the Grand Union to move water supplies

I HAVE been waiting all summer for an old favourite idea to resurface in the commentary about the current drought, writes Roger Fox.

Let’s use the canal system to move water supplies around the country!

This morning on the Radio 4 Today programme an expert stated that the Grand Union Canal is being considered as a route for moving water from north to south.

Forgotten!

Well, what a surprise. This general idea comes up every time there are water shortages and then it is quietly forgotten again.

Some seem to think that the canal runs downhill from north to south so you simply pour water in at one end and it comes out at the other. It is only when they look at the terrain that the realities become evident and they see that the costs involved are astronomical.

Let’s see what happens this time…