years. In 1928 the improvement to navigation above Oxford was finally completed with the building of Eynsham Lock and King's Lock. The next significant undertaking was the digging of Desborough Cut between 1930 and 1935. The –mile (1 km) cut took the river on a straight course between Weybridge and Walton on Thames, and avoiding a meandering stretch past Shepperton and its Lower Halliford locale. The channel cut the regularity of flooding in Chertsey and Old Shepperton and halved the distance of travel on that part of the river. A Thames Conservancy Act 1932 dealt with construction of jetties and landing stages on the river. In the 1960s modernisation of the locks began with the first hydraulic system introduced at Shiplake Lock in 1961. Sandford Lock was rebuilt in 1972. Governance Significant change in the structure of the conservancy in the 20th century began with the passing of the Land Drainage Act 1930. This created catchment boards and drainage boards over much of England and Wales, but the Thames above Teddington was treated as a special case, as outlined in section 79 of that Act. The conservators automatically became a catchment board, and were required to carry out the drainage functions described in section 34 of the Act, although not until two years after the Act came into force. All the existing conservators had to resign, although they could be reappointed as part of the new regime. Schedule 6 contained a list of who was responsible for the appointment of the 31 new members, which consisted mostly of county councils and county borough councils, together with one appointed by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, one by the Board of Trade and one by the Minister of Transport. The Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries could also appoint three additional members after consultation with internal drainage boards. The new conservators were required to keep separate accounts relating to their activities under the Act, and those relating to activities bestowed on them by various Conservancy Acts dating from 1894 to 1924. The River Boards Act 1948 replaced catchment boards with river boards, covering the whole of England and Wales, but again the Thames Conservancy was treated as a special case. The Act introduced new constitutional, financial and general administrative powers for the river boards, but the Thames Conservancy continued to operate under the 1930 legislation. The next change occurred with the passing