Posted by Jim Hadfield on December 14, 2006 at 20:59:00 from 89.242.16.190 user JimHadfield.
I`m not sure that there is a weir at the River Leven outflow of Windermere. A few years back there was some consultation here in the Lake District about the possibility of constructing a weir at the outflow of Derwentwater to prevent erosion of the lake shores by the constant rise and fall of the lake. I believe the idea was rejected because legally, the lake would then become a reservoir, subject to totally different regulations, not least of which was an annual bill of several thousands of pounds to comply with the regulations. On the other hand, there is a weir not far down the River Eamont flowing out of Ullswater which must presumably have some effect on the level of that lake. The water providers United Utilities/Northwest Water have powers to extract some water from both Windermere and Ullswater to top up their supplies in times of need, but I don`t know if this legally makes the lakes into reservoirs.