At MIRC we row on a narrow and protected stretch of the River Medway. The advantage of this is that 90% of the time we are able to row as the river is non tidal and because of its bends the wind gets little chance to effect the river.
The river is however occasionally prone to strong streams and sometimes flooding. Excessive rain will often increase the strength of stream and because of the narrow twisting river we are occasionally forced to restrict the use of the river. To do this we use a traffic light system and follow these guidelines to make our judgement.
Link to the river status posted by the Environment Agency at Allington Lock: http://www.allingtonlock.co.uk
A helpful website to see what the river is doing further up stream is: http://www.riverlevels.uk/medway-maidstone#.VfWdxPlVhBc
Current and historic river flow rate data from between Teston and East Farleigh: environment.data.gov.uk/hydrology/station/