Save money - just "close" locks

It explains a lot about government audits of Canada's heritage canals. Imagine - you can cut costs by simply closing a few locks. How you operate a "canal" with even a single closed lock seems to have escaped them.

32.4 Navigation serves a very limited and declining market. In a typical year, no more than 1,370 {Trent} and 2,200 {Rideau} boats navigate the entire Trent-Severn Waterway and Rideau Canal respectively. Although the canals operate for five months, 80% of boaters use them during July and August only. Shortening the navigation season would reduce operating costs by approximately 45%. In addition, combining a shorter season with the closing of underutilized locks could result in savings of close to $10 million annually.  [1996 November Report of the Auditor General of Canada]