Start with the gate’s release board and the ward cistern level marks. It is the source used to make a decision about how much reserve water reaches the lower wards after a thaw pushes grit through the upper channel; it is not the decision itself. The rule only works if the source describes the conditions at the North Sluice above the Lantern Stair.
The latest count is 33 measured release turns; the prior file listed 37. A public vote has approved a narrow change while leaving the larger question open. The difference is a signal to check, not a verdict about who is right.
The disputed point is practical: Keepers point to a steady total at the gate; residents point to a sharper fall in the last two cisterns. One side relies on the posted total, while the other points to a stone channel that narrows at the final bend above the lower cisterns.
The risk of reading the file too broadly is that an entry becomes a conclusion. Tavi Orr checked the gate’s release board and the ward cistern level marks against the field notes. The method is to trace a system from its control gate to the last household it is meant to serve; it confirms the entries, but not every interpretation attached to them.
Next: A mason crew will inspect the final bend during the next low-flow window. A useful update will publish the method, exceptions and review date with the number.
