River defies weather

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Permalink Reply by AndrewAW1 on July 23, 2018 at 16:13

I'd guess it's because the new dredging machine at the Wightman end hasn't been finished yet. They've put the grill in but the claw that pulls the debris out hasn't been fitted yet (so far as I could see) so it's getting blocked there.

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Permalink Reply by JoeW on July 23, 2018 at 19:10

I don't think it's getting blocked there, the level is high in Finsbury Park too (was overflowing a couple of days ago and the baseball field was still waterlogged this morning in parts too).

The water level is controlled further upstream. My guess is after those dead fish appeared a couple of weeks ago, they have decided to keep the level a bit higher than usual.

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Permalink Reply by EMC2 on July 23, 2018 at 16:40

I think it's because it's neither new, nor a river. It's water is principally supplied by the River Lea up near Rush Green. If the Lea dries up then presumably so will the New River. 

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Permalink Reply by Philip on July 24, 2018 at 8:06

It is also fed by a number of springs

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Permalink Reply by Andy Rushton on July 27, 2018 at 15:18

Hi,

My guess, and it is just a guess, is it's because New River is really an aquaduct. In hot weather people use more water, so maybe the New River is being used to bring more water into town. It taps off from the Lee near Ware where there's a sluice - i passed it once on a walk from Ware to Hertford - that controls the flow. If so, i wonder what that's doing to the Lee though.

Andy

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