Reservoir water levels to lower for maintenance

Water levels at a reservoir are being deliberately lowered to enable work to take place on a dam wall.

Levels at Chasewater Reservoir near Burntwood, Staffordshire, will be 2m (6ft) lower than usual while the work is carried out.

Nearby residents, businesses and clubs had been notified, the county council said.

The Canal & River Trust would be carrying out maintenance work on valves, which control the water flow into the canal network, at the same time as the dam wall on the 200-year-old reservoir was being addressed.

Hayley Coles, cabinet member for communities and culture said because of its age the dam and its supporting wall were regularly inspected.

"The reservoir is more than 200 years old and the dam wall itself is made of earth and stone and the architects in the late 1700s actually designed it to allow a little water through it," she said.

"Following the latest scheduled inspection, we're going to carry out some maintenance work and at the same time we're having a look at the filter system that manages the seepage through the dam wall."

The work would last into 2026 and the authority said it would keep people informed of progress.

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