en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Buckingham Canal Society (BCS) is calling on government agencies and Anglian Water to formally include the restoration of the historic canal in the 2029 Regional Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP29), placing it on par with major infrastructure projects. The society argues that historic waterways are re-emerging as climate-resilient infrastructure of national significance.
The charity's call comes as large parts of England face drought conditions, with national reservoir levels having fallen to 72%—nearly 10 percentage points below the long-term average.
The BCS proposes that restoring the Buckingham Arm of the Grand Union Canal between Cosgrove and Buckingham could create a low-energy, gravity-fed water transfer route between the Ouse Valley and the Mid-Shires water resource zones, directly supporting Anglian Water's proposed 30-mile Ouse Valley water transfer corridor concept.
The society argues that proven canal water transfer projects already exist as precedents for such ideas. The Llangollen Canal in Wales is reported to have delivered 60 million litres of water per day for 70 consecutive years, supplying over 330,000 people in Cheshire; the Cotswold Canals water transfer proposal is also progressing.
Terry Cavender, Chief Executive of the Buckingham Canal Society, said the drought situation is severe, but the solutions already exist—projects like the Llangollen Canal have demonstrated the effectiveness of canal water transfer, and the restoration of the Buckingham Arm could fully become part of the solution. He added that canals are not competing with modern water infrastructure but complementing it. The engineers who built these waterways in the 19th century understood the scarcity of water resources; the task today is not to reinvent canals but to integrate them directly into modern climate-resilience planning.
The society points out that the benefits of canal restoration extend beyond water security: it could act as a flood buffer during extreme rainfall, provide natural wetland water filtration, supply non-potable water for industry, and support Oxford-Cambridge housing development through secondary reservoir basins formed by associated gravel extraction.
The BCS has also disclosed a proposed Grand Union Canal water transfer scheme, which plans to deliver up to 115 million litres of water per day from Birmingham via the Coventry Canal, Oxford Canal, and Grand Union Canal to relieve pressure on water-stressed areas in the southeast. The scheme is currently in the Development Consent Order approval stage. Similar water transfer projects are also advancing across the UK, including regional corridors such as the Fossdyke and Witham Navigations and the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal.
Cross-party parliamentary support is building around the Buckingham Arm proposal. Labour MPs Callum Anderson and Chris Curtis have recognised the project's strategic infrastructure value, while Conservative MPs Blake Stephenson and Stuart Andrew support innovative water supply solutions such as canal restoration. Conservative MP Sarah Bool plans to visit the Cosgrove site on Thursday, 6 August, to inspect the proposal.
The BCS is now calling for joint investment in the first phase of the restoration works and for detailed hydrological modelling to be undertaken. Anglian Water has not yet responded to requests for comment.
