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Environment correspondent, BBC Wales News
Gareth Bryer
BBC Wales News
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The Welsh government has been urged to intervene over fears one of the country’s most popular canals could start to dry up within a week.
Operators of the 225-year-old Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal have warned of an “urgent” water shortage without the prospect of imminent rainfall.
It comes amid debate over how the historic attraction should secure its water supply in future after limits were placed on taking water from the environmentally-sensitive River Usk.
The Welsh government said any arrangement between the Canal & River Trust and Welsh Water would be a commercial decision in which it should play no role.
The 35-mile (56 km) waterway weaves its way through the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park – formerly known as the Brecon Beacons National Park – and the Blaenavon industrial landscape World Heritage Site, attracting an estimated 3 million visitors a year for boating, walking and cycling.
“Everything the canal supports is at threat – we risk losing the jewel in the crown of south Wales,” said Tracey Leake-Jones, who runs the Bridge 46 to Five Locks canal group.
Made up of volunteers, the group runs events along the canal and has fundraised to install planters, benches and signs.
The prospect of it having to close due to water shortages was “utterly devastating”, she said.
“There has to be a solution found, and my view is that the Welsh government and its
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