[OSM-talk] difference between waterway=canal and waterway=drain

[Shaun McDonald]

On 16 May 2008, at 16:50, Alex Mauer wrote:

> Karl Newman wrote:
>> Wow, that's not obvious to the casual (non-UK) observer. In the US,  
>> the
>> usage of "canal" is different. They're almost never navigable, and  
>> even
>> small drainage ditches are commonly called "canals". Almost no-one  
>> here
>> would call any kind of waterway a "drain". Definitely clarify that on
>> the Wiki.
>
> I've never heard a non-navigable waterway referred to as a canal, here
> in the Midwest USA.  I've only what you're describing called a  
> "drainage
> ditch" (as you said) or "irrigation ditch" depending on their intended
> purpose. "ditch" is IMO a reasonable combination of the two (since the
> intended purpose is generally not immediately obvious)
>

I have the only remaining part of the Croydon canal near me. It is  
only a few hundred metres long, and is now left to nature. A century  
ago the other parts of the canal were filled in and changed to railway.

Shaun