We acknowledge that a number of boaters are having issues navigating along Well Creek at Nordelph and apologise for any inconvenience within their journey. However, we do not consider the Well Creek as non-navigable as per the Well Creek Trust’s Facebook post, therefore we currently do not propose to close navigation.
Since the downstream gates were re-installed at Marmont Priory Lock and the Environment Agency desilted the tidal river at Salters Lode Lock, there have been many boaters making trips and we have been supporting, where possible, boaters who have had issues. Navigation may be challenging, and boaters should navigate with caution at their own risk. We suggest that boaters planning to navigate this stretch make contact and take advice from our Navigation Officer or Lock keepers.

Since 2015 there have been seven phases of desilting of the Well Creek undertaken and there are the three most complex to deliver sections remaining, including the section through Nordelph.

We currently do not have budget to address the remaining sections, as use of our limited funds must be prioritised taking account of the deteriorating condition of many of our sets of lock gates that also require replacement.

We are not currently eligible for government funding for our navigation works.

We are developing our capital programme and further desilting of Well Creek is an important component of this,
however we will likely need third party funding for any works, especially if works are to be accelerated.

Through Nordelph the cott weed is a particular problem, in part because of the lack of water depth, and not helped this year by the relatively warm spring. We had a weed-boat in the water starting to tackle the issue last week (wc 21/04/2025) however it quickly became apparent that the scale and weight of cott this year will likely overwhelm the capability of our plant and equipment on this stretch. With urgency we are therefore reviewing our approach and developing a land/road-based method of weed management for this section of Well Creek. This may require bespoke permits that could take time to secure, it will also be more costly and likely more disruptive to the local community.
In terms of the sunken vessel at the shop’s mooring in Upwell, this has indeed come loose and is now causing more of a hazard. We plan to remove the vessel as soon as practical.

Well Creek is a fantastic waterway that adds so much value to the local community and provides an important link route regionally and nationally, however there are multiple and often competing interests to balance in managing and maintaining the banks, channels, natural environment and village aesthetics.
Frequent boat traffic plays a crucial role in helping to manage weed and keeping our navigations open. It is important that collectively we ‘talk up’ the wonderful Well Creek and have balance to reduce the risk of being counterproductive in what we trust is a shared objective to ensure a thriving Well Creek.

Paul Burrows, Chief Executive

In September 2023, we commenced a trial to test if and how manual intervention could result in more efficient and effective operation of St Germans pumping station. The trial will continue through the 2024/25 ‘pumping season’.

We are hoping the second winter of the trial will be closer to a ‘normal winter’ so we can broaden and deepen our learning. We will consider the results and learning from the trial in 2025 before making any decisions on any permanent changes to our operations. This briefing explains the background and context for a pumping operations trial.

Having successfully managed pumping operations through the wettest winter on record, our focus is now on our embankment and in-channel maintenance programme. The wet and relatively warm winter has meant we’ve had to adjust our plans.

In terms of in-channel management of aquatic weed, which is particularly important to those boating on our 160km of navigable waterways, this is what to expect in 2024:

Our weed-boats are now in the water and ready for the season. We have five boats – two as weed cutters and three as weed lifters. Ideally, we form two crews, a crew of three boats generally focussed on the wider waterways and a crew of two boats focussed on the link route.

Our ability to have two crews active during a working week is dependent upon:

· Weather conditions

· Mechanical issues with the boats

· Boat crew availability and absence

To maximise what we can achieve, we are:

· Actively re-deploying members of our workforce to be part of our boat crews by using contractors for some other activities.

· Aiming to bring in, train and use additional boat operators this summer.

· Looking to maximise boat ‘cutting time’ rather than ‘travel time’. This will mean less responding to ‘hotspot’ weed-growth reports from boaters which has previously resulted in lost ‘cutting time’ and greater ‘travel time’.

· Improving our logistical and fuelling support to our boat crews.

We will endeavour to regularly post updates on our Facebook page as to where our crew(s) are within our system.

We’d love to be able to afford more boats and more operatives to manage weed growth to the standards many of those navigating our system would like. Sadly, that’s not our financial reality within boundaries of the income we receive from licence fees and from our ratepayers. Many boaters remember the days when weed growth within our system was significantly worse than it is today.

Please bear with us, as at a maximum we can only be in one or two places at a time within our 160km of navigable waterways.

As these crews will blend experienced hands with novice hands, we aim to get a crew out cutting on the wider waterways starting wc 20th May where there is less traffic. This is so they can test and perfect their teamwork before working within the narrower, busier channels.

If you see our crews in action, please wave and say hello.

Whilst the skies may be clear today, our drainage system is under stress.

Yesterday saw St Germans Pumping Station discharging 77 cubic metres of water per second. We have never previously needed to pump to this level.

There are still vast quantities of water within our system, being pumped into our system by Internal Drainage Boards and flowing into our system from saturated highland areas.

The weather forecast for overnight tonight is a cause for serious concern, with a worst-case prospect of 30-40mm. Even a more realistic forecast of 10-20mm will cause us issues unless we take further action.

We will deploy the demountable defences for the properties in Benwick as a precautionary measure during daylight today.

We will need to take the water level at St Germans as low as we can without risking bank slips in order to create the gradient in the system to be able to cater for tonight’s forecast rainfall as well as the existing water within the catchment.

For boaters moored in our main drainage system this will unfortunately mean you’ll likely experience levels fluctuating significantly higher and/or lower than normal. This will probably start to be noticeable this afternoon and evening. Please take suitable action to secure your safety.

Should the rainfall forecast materialise then levels will quickly rise and if the rainfall does not materialise then there is sufficient water coming into the system to stabilise the levels again tomorrow.

The sanitation point at March Town Bridge, Old River Nene, is open. Currently, the information on Fenland District Council’s website is out of date.

Pump-out tickets can be bought from George Campbell Leisure Centre, for £20.