 This effectively killed the use of water power, and Croppers, who used water to drive turbines which generated electricity to power their mill at Burneside, could no longer afford the cost, and the turbines were shut down in 1972.As the effective owner of the reservoir, Croppers have made various attempts to dispose of the reservoir.An approach was made to the Lakes and Lune Water Board in 1972 or 1973, to see whether they could use the facility for water supply, but they were not prepared to do so.