The future of the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal has been secured, owing to a funding partnership between the Welsh Government and Glandwr Cymru.

In April, the charity’s abstraction license, to feed water from the River Usk into the canal, was revoked. This left those relying on the canal, including business owners and boat dwellers, as well as environmental concerns, with an uncertain future. It is estimated that the canal brings around £30 million to the Welsh economy every year.

A temporary agreement was reached between Glandwr Cymru and Welsh Water to pump water into the canal for twelve months at the cost of £1 million for the body responsible for the waterway’s upkeep. But on Thursday, the Deputy First Minister announced a five-year package from the Welsh Government to secure the 225-year-old canal’s future.

“I am really delighted,” Huw Irranca-Davies MS, who is also the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural affairs, told the Chronicle in Gilwern on Thursday.

“This is a story of the right people coming together out of a crisis to advocate for the value of this historic asset. To the cafes along the canal, boat owners and boat yards all along the canal.”

Glandwr Cymru will still have to pay for the water flowing into the canal, but the new deal will see the Welsh Government cover £400,000 of the cost every year for the next five years. The charity will pay up to £100,000 of the total amount per year in addition to this to keep the boats bobbing along the canal.

The Welsh Government had already committed £5 million for the refurbishment of the Manorafon pumping station to ensure the water supply remains stable.

“Our multi-agency approach focussed on two key elements,” said Mr Irranca-Davies.

“Many canals face environmental pressures including drought and deluge so they naturally face times when there are water shortages. But we also spoke about the technical solutions and how we fund them, so today’s announcement is vitally important.”

The Cabinet Secretary was also keen to stress that the five year time frame is not an expiration date on the agreement and the canal will not be facing a similar situation when the new arrangement runs out.

Ben Cottam is the Regional Director for Glandwr Cymru and hailed the deal between the charity and the Welsh Government as a positive occasion.

“The financial pressures of the abstraction license being removes have been very significant for us as a charity,” he said.

“But when that concern became more public we saw a coming together of all those that love and support the canal and the amount of support that campaign has had is wonderful. While that’s been happening, what we have had to do is sit down with government and stakeholders to highlight the very real and present threat.”

“The confirmation of funding for the supply buys us the time to talk about a solution that lasts another 225 years. So today is a positive day, it’s a great outcome, but there’s a lot of work to still be done.”