Canal pound
![A short pound on the Chesterfield Canal](/Images/godic/202501/02/Chesterfield_Canal_pound1913.jpg")
![Summit pound (level) on the Morris Canal, fed by Lake Hopatcong through a feeder canal.](/Images/godic/202501/02/Summit_Level_of_Morris_Canal_from_HABS1913.png")
![Example of a waste weir to regulate water level. (Looking from above)Paddle valves closed, and boards put in. Topmost board determines height of water in pound.Same waste weir with valves open and boards taken out, to drain canal prism.](/Images/godic/202501/02/Waste_Weir_Closed_on_C_and_O_Canal1913.jpg")
![Waste Weir Open](/Images/godic/202501/02/Waste_Weir_Open_on_C_and_O_Canal1913.jpg")
A canal pound, reach, or level (American usage), is the stretch of level water impounded between two canal locks. Canal pounds can vary in length from the non-existent, where two or more immediately adjacent locks form a lock staircase, to many miles.