In the midst of the driest eight-month period since 1976, and with the East of England only seeing a fifth of its average rainfall in July, Anglian Water is continuing to progress long-term plans for two new reservoirs to secure the region’s water supplies.

Photo: Anglian Water's Covenham Reservoir

The water is developing proposals for two new reservoirs - one is proposed to be in the Fens and will see Anglian joining forces with Cambridge Water, the other will be located in Lincolnshire.

Plans for the project have been developing over the last 10 years with the water companies ready to share the findings of a detailed site selection study in the autumn, in what will be the first of a multi-phase consultation on the proposals.

The news comes at a time when public awareness of water scarcity has never been higher.

Anglian Water said this summer’s heatwave is keenly illustrating the need for investment in more water storage, while a changing climate, the need to protect the environment and population growth are combining to increase demands on water resources in a way that is felt more keenly in the East of England than any other part of the UK.

The two new reservoirs could supply enough water for at least 750,000 homes, as well as protecting the environment by allowing Anglian to reduce the amount of water taken from rivers and underground aquifers elsewhere in the region.

Anglian Water, together with a panel of expert partners, has been undertaking a wide range of assessments to identify potential locations for the reservoirs.

The projects form part of the companies' long term Water Resources Management Plans, and are linked to the wider regional plans led by Water Resources East.

The plans look 25 years ahead, with the objective of making the region resilient to drought, all while improving environmental protection.

For Anglian Water, they will build on decades of existing investment in resilient infrastructure – including the utility’s 400km strategic pipeline allowing it to move from the north to the south and east of its region - helping customers to reduce demand and driving down leakage to world leading low levels.

Despite recently being declared as a region ‘in drought last week, the company is one of only a few not imposing a hosepipe ban this year, despite operating in the driest region of the UK.

Without action Anglian will face water deficit of millions of litres a day within the next five years 

Alex Plant, Director of Strategy and Regulation for Anglian Water said:

“It’s plain to see when you look out the window right now just how precious water is. It’s the lifeblood of the region for our customers, businesses, agriculture and nature. The current situation presents an obvious backdrop as to why projects like this are needed, but the reality is because we’ve known the future promises many more people, but far fewer raindrops, we have been working on these projects for years, as we know how long they take to come to fruition.

“Getting these projects underway now means the chances of our taps running dry are significantly reduced, as well as helping us take a big step forward in protecting the environment by reducing how much we take from elsewhere in the region.

“The reality is stark for the East of England. We operate in the driest part of the country and receive a third less rainfall than anywhere else in the UK, but we’re also one of the fastest growing regions, with 175,000 new homes to be built in the next five years. Without action we will face a water deficit of millions of litres a day within the next five years – let alone 25 years.

“Right now, we’re already working on new strategic pipelines to move water from wetter to drier parts of our region, installing over a million smart meters in customers’ homes to help them better understand their water use, and driving down leakage to world leading low levels – last year alone delivering five years' worth of leakage reduction in a single year. These reservoirs will build on these demand reduction measures, and will play a critical role in securing water supply long into the future.

“But we should be clear – while all of these projects cumulatively will help to keep taps running, they are necessary because the demand for water will greatly outstrip the available supply unless we take action now, which is why we still all need to do our bit to use less.”

Hannah Stanley-Jones, Head of Future Resources Strategy for Anglian Water explained that the company is at a very early stage in the planning process and have been carrying out detailed technical work to help identify the best locations for the proposed reservoirs.

The water company plans to share where it has reached with the work in Autumn when it will be launching the first phase of consultation on the proposals, including the proposed locations.

Anglian Water anticipates that this will be the first of three phases of consultation –planning for the projects has been underway for a number of years. However, they are still at an early stage as part of a long and detailed planning process. The designs will be developed over a number of years with opportunities for communities to comment and shape how the reservoirs are designed. Construction of the new reservoirs could begin by 2030 with the hope that they would start supplying water to customer taps by the mid to late 2030s.

Significantly more water storage is urgently needed

Daniel Johns, Managing Director, Water Resources East and Chair of the South Lincs Water Partnership and Fens Water Partnership, said:

“Both the Fens and Lincolnshire Reservoirs are critical to the region’s future prosperity and environmental health as the changing climate makes existing water resources less reliable. Eastern England needs to make the most of the rain that does fall in our river catchments, the driest part of the country. That means significantly more water storage is urgently needed.”

Ahead of sharing the detailed work that has been undertaken to assess the best performing locations for the proposed reservoirs, Anglian Water will soon be contacting all landowners and residents who may be impacted by these proposals. A ten-week public consultation will follow for people to review the proposals and provide comments.

The reservoirs are two of 18 strategic water resources projects being developed across the UK in collaboration with regulators Ofwat, the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate through the RAPID structure set up to support delivery of the critical schemes.

Anglian Water supplies drinking water to 4.3 million customers across the East of England and collects and treats used water from nearly 7 million people. We operate within the largest geographical region of England and Wales.

Click here for more information about the new reservoirs.

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