There's a hole, and top engineers are looking into it. Not seen for a couple of centuries, the outlet pipe in the base of the dam. From here, water flows into the canal when the valve is open. Picture by Staffordshire County Dam Team, and posted on LDC's Dam Blog.
I see that after a five week hiatus, there’s been an uncharacteristically useful update on the Lichfield District Council Chasewater Dam Blog, with some interesting information about the outlet culvert and valve controls system. The post has actually come from Staffordshire Councty Council, now in charge of the project since Lichfield’s disastrous attempts to do it themselves.
As ever, the real straight talking comes in a couple of excellent news updates by top wildlife expert and Chasewater user Graham Evans, on the Chasewater Wildlife Group’s news page. Those looking for an imminent start to refilling will, however, be disappointed. Mind you, with the lack of rain and the fact that the cofferdam is currently sealing off the output drain, I think it’s making little difference at the moment. Until the Swag refills, the main lake will only get runoff anyway, which in the current conditions amounts to next to nothing.
My thanks to several readers who tipped me off about this. Cheers, folks.
Inside the culvert, CCTV video still taken from inspection camera, possibly on crawler or ROV. The void above is a stopping-up access previously undiscovered. Picture by Staffordshire Councty Dam Team and posted on LDC's Dam Blog.