The Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) has confirmed its draft decision to solution owner Northumbrian Water that further funding should be allowed for the North Suffolk Reservoir Strategic Resource Option to progress to gate B.

The regulators have created a new process which combines the previous RAPID gates and the Ofwat Major Projects stages for all projects included in the Major Water Infrastructure Programme (MWIP). The decision points are called gates A to F - as part of the transition to the new combined process, RAPID will move existing solutions onto the next gate as appropriate. NSR will transition to gate B via a midpoint review on the completion of gate one - the current gate.

The NSR Strategic Resource Option (SRO) will provide storage for surplus raw water from the River Waveney. The stored water will be transferred via a new raw water pipeline to Barsham Water Treatment Works. Treated water will be transferred through the Suffolk Strategic network scheme to meet forecast household and non-household demand in the Blyth and Hartismere water resources zones.

The solution is on a preferred pathway in sister company’s Essex & Suffolk Water's 2024 Water Resource Management Plan (WRMP24). However, the proposed size and water available for use benefit of the reservoir has significantly increased from 18.5 megalitres per day (Ml/d) in the gate one submission to 25 Ml/d with 33,000 Ml yield – RAPID points out that the solution in its current form is not represented in Essex & Suffolk Water's WRMP24. The larger size allows for planning against the worstcase scenario of anticipated abstraction licence reductions.

The draft decision says that further funding should be allowed for the solution to progress to gate B, subject to successfully passing through the midpoint review. It also says that the regulators (Ofwat, Environment Agency and Drinking Water Inspectorate) are “mostly satisfied" with the solution's plans with regard to effectiveness and timeliness, but they do have some concerns that need to be addressed by Northumbrian Water as the solution owner.

In the Price Review 2024 (PR24) process, Ofwat determined an expenditure allowance of up to £1.288 million for NSR to cover gate one activities in the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2030. The regulator also determined an expenditure allowance of up to £3.814 million for NSR to cover gate two activities.

The draft decision states:

“However, to accommodate the new combined gated process, the allowance for gate B has been reprofiled to £20.789 million. The higher allowance reflects the requirement to complete activities to a greater level of maturity for the next milestone.

“As part of the gate one submission, the solution owner requested an amendment to their gate two allowances. This request is equal to a new allowance of £12.671 million, which is an increase of £8.857 million. This is driven primarily by changes in the scope of the project since PR24 allowances were set. These changes require an increase in the level of engineering, site investigation and environmental assessment activities to support the Environmental Impact Assessment and DCO application, as well as stakeholder engagement, planning activities and commercial preparation for Direct Procurement for Customers (DPC).”

The solution owner and other interested parties can now respond to the draft decision - representations are invited by email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by completing an online Microsoft Teams form. The representation period will close at 6pm on 02 October 2026. RAPID is currently aiming to publish the final decision on 27 October 2026.

Click here to download the draft decision document