These are automated as much as it was possible in the 1930s (that is, an operator sits in one of the towers and presses buttons). Some locks are inclined in the opposite direction, and there the water level is maintained by large pumping stations (it turns out that the water flows through the channel from the bottom up). There are two such pumping stations in Iksha.
Probably someday I will photograph all these locks from the water side (the architects calculated all these buildings so that they would look most interesting from passing ships).