Divers carry out Rudyard Lake £600,000 valve repairs
A team of specialist divers is carrying out work to replace faulty valves which are causing leaks at a Staffordshire reservoir.
The Canal and River Trust is spending about £600,000 installing a hydraulic pump system at Rudyard Lake, near Leek.
The trust said water had been gradually drained to a low level since March to enable the work to be carried out.
The lake was built in 1797 to supply water to the Caldon branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal.
The hydraulic system is intended to prevent leaks and give greater control over the amount of water being released into the canal.
Engineers will also be repairing the "coffin weir", which works like a "giant bath tub to hold back water discharged from the reservoir", the trust said.
Project manager Richard Spencer said: "Rudyard Lake has a vital role to play in supplying the region's canal network and that's why these works are so important.
The project would protect the "water flow and restore an important part of Staffordshire's industrial heritage", he said.
Author Rudyard Kipling was named after the reservoir, which is also used as a boating lake, by his parents who are said to have first met there.