ARCAO president François David wrote to the president of Lot-et-Garonne, Sophie Borderie, on 11 August 2021, to plead for the effective continuity of navigation between the Lot and the Baïse, through the difficult passage of the river Garonne over 4.7 km between Saint-Léger and Nicole. The letter welcomed the willingness of VNF's director for Southwest France, Henri Bouysses, to be involved in the project to restore the navigable connection, but regretted the absence of any feasible solution for restoration of the so-called 'Cellulose' lock on the Baïse (between the Canal de Garonne and Saint-Léger). Recognising that this lock is not part of the network managed by VNF, ARCAO invites the president of Lot-et-Garonne to state her intentions in regard to this project. ‘ARCAO welcomes the positive developments regarding navigability of the lower river Lot, the opening of Saint-Vite lock, and the concrete proposals for bypassing Fumel dam, thus opening up the prospect of uninterrupted navigation between Aiguillon and Albas. We are convinced that the waterways represent a major heritage asset throughout many French regions, and this is why we are determined to see the river Lot properly connected to the national waterway network.