Latest news with #reservoirs
The Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Government steps in to deliver new reservoirs amid water supply concerns
The Government has stepped in to take control of the planning process for two major new reservoirs, as it warns UK water supplies are under threat. Environment Secretary Steve Reed has designated two new reservoir projects in East Anglia and Lincolnshire as 'nationally significant', escalating them from local planning to central Government. The move aims to streamline and fast-track the delivery of the two new reservoirs, the first for more than 30 years, to improve water resources for more than three quarters of a million homes in some of England's most water-stressed areas and unlock the building of new homes. The Government also says it will legislate so that major reservoirs will automatically be designated as 'nationally significant' to make it easier to get them built and secure future water supplies. Officials warn that, without action to build new reservoirs, rapid population growth, crumbling assets and a warming climate mean demand for drinking water could outstrip supply by the middle of the next decade. A lack of water supplies is also holding back the construction of thousands of homes in parts of the country such as Cambridge, they warn. The two reservoirs which have been designated as nationally significant are being proposed by Anglian Water, which wants to build the Lincolnshire reservoir south of Sleaford and is partnering with Cambridge Water for the Fens Reservoir between Chatteris and March in Cambridgeshire. Under the plans, the Lincolnshire reservoir, which would provide up to 166 million litres a day for up to 500,000 homes, would be completed by 2040 and the Fens Reservoir, supplying 87 million litres a day to 250,000 homes in the driest region of the UK, would be completed by 2036. Both projects will now progress to the consultation phase, gathering views from communities and stakeholders, the Government said. Water companies across England have committed to bringing nine new reservoirs online by 2050, in Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Suffolk, Kent, East Sussex and the West Midlands and Somerset, with the potential to supply 670 million litres of extra water per day. Water Minister Emma Hardy said the Government was 'intervening in the national interest and slashing red tape to make the planning process faster to unblock nine new reservoirs'. She said it would secure water supply for future generations and unlock the building of thousands of homes.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
There should be no such thing as a drought in modern Britain
I wrote last week how absurd it is that a rainy island nation like ours is worrying about water, and how the real culprit was not privatisation but our absurd planning system. The Government's latest action on reservoirs is more evidence for that thesis. Faced with the ridiculous prospect of Britain having shortages of drinking water by the mid-2030s, ministers have wrested control over the fate of several reservoir projects away not from the water companies, but from councils. Two projects, in East Anglia and Lincolnshire, have been declared 'nationally significant', granting the Secretary of State power to speed them through the planning process and get JCBs in the ground. Credit where credit is due: this is the right decision. In fact, the hard question for the Conservative Party is why it wasn't done sooner. The powers Labour is now using to drive forward 'nationally significant' infrastructure projects are found in the Planning Act 2008. It has been on the books, unloved and underutilised, for the Tories' entire period in office. It isn't that there has been a clear need for it. Section 27 of the PA08 sets out the minimum volume for a reservoir to be deemed 'nationally significant' and Thames Water's long-delayed project in Abingdon – the cause celebre of we pro-reservoir types – is planned to be no less than five times as capacious. Nor is it an isolated case. Bristol Water received in 2014 permission for a £100m reservoir, only to scrap it in the face of furious resistance just four years later. In 2019, Scottish councillors vetoed a billion-gallon reservoir with integrated hydro-electric project – a double-whammy against British water and energy security. The basic problem is that local government is the worst place possible to vest authority for planning. Councillors answer to the angriest and most energetic third, on average, of local voters, and have no incentive to take national need into account when making their decisions. Whatever one's views on housing, it makes no sense to administer essential infrastructure – reservoirs, power plants, pylons, railways, you name it – like some latter-day Holy Roman Empire, with companies forced to buy off petty margraves and bishoprics along their entire route. This latest story also highlights another aspect of the problem: our deep distaste for actually paying for things. One criticism levelled at these reservoirs is that they are going, in the short term at least, to push up people's water bills. Some frustration is understandable at a time when the cost-of-living crisis is biting. But not only would bills get much higher (before rationing kicked in) if we don't build new reservoirs, but paying for them out of water revenue is the best way to ensure they are actually built. As I pointed out previously, the reason investment in water infrastructure has been much higher since privatisation is that the money is ring-fenced. Water companies have to re-invest much of their revenue in making our water network better. Under nationalisation, revenue from water bills flowed into the Treasury, where it had to compete with pensions, welfare and the NHS for every scrap of reinvestment. It should surprise nobody that the network was left to moulder. Of course, we could have avoided a crunch period of higher bills if we had been consistently investing in and constructing new reservoirs over the past 30 years. Sadly, we missed that chance. But the second-best time to start dealing with this problem is now – and delaying will only mean an even more painful crash course somewhere down the line. That or water rationing, of course.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
UK sees sunniest spring on record as drought declared in northwest England
The UK experienced its sunniest spring since records began in 1910, with 630 hours of sunshine between March 1 and May 27, a significant increase from 377 hours last year. A drought has been officially declared in North West England by the Environment Agency, due to the low levels of rivers and reservoirs which are currently at less than 60% capacity. Prior to recent rainfall, North West and North East England had both seen their driest start to a calendar year since 1929, while England had its driest February to April since 1956. England experienced its wettest 12 months on record between October 2023 and September 2024, leading to widespread flooding before the current dry spell. Environment Secretary Steve Reed has seized central government control over two major reservoir projects in East Anglia and Lincolnshire, amid concerns that water demand could exceed supply by the mid-2030s without new reservoirs.
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Drought Declared to Protect Northwest England Water Supplies
A drought has been declared for northwest England after a record dry spring has starved rivers and driven down reservoir levels. The UK's Environment Agency issued the formal declaration on Thursday for Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire, and Cumbria and Lancanshire, according to spokesperson Abby Scott.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Drought declared in north-west England amid declining reservoir levels
A drought has been declared in north-west England as reservoir levels dwindle. Hosepipe bans could follow, the Environment Agency said, though this is a matter for water companies, which have been directed to follow their drought plans. Much of the rest of the country is in prolonged dry status, which is the step before drought, and without significant rainfall more areas could follow the north-west. England had the driest period on record between February and April, and despite recent rainfall, rivers are at exceptionally low flows across the country and reservoir levels are declining. United Utilities has particularly low reservoir levels: its Carlisle reservoir is at 46.4%,compared with the 92.5% it was at this time last year. The Haweswater & Thirlmere reservoirs are at 47.5%, compared with 94.8% last year. These are the reservoirs which serve areas including Cumbria and Manchester, in the drought area. An Environment Agency spokesperson said: 'The north-west of England has entered drought status due to low water levels in reservoirs and rivers. No other areas in England are in drought and we continue to monitor the situation closely.' Climate breakdown will make droughts more likely, scientists have said, as rainfall becomes less predictable. Richard Allan, a professor of climate science at the University of Reading, said: 'The lack of rainfall across the UK in spring 2025 constituted a meteorological drought and this quickly depleted the soil's moisture, leading to concerns over agricultural drought. Lowering river and reservoir levels are a concern for the north-west of the UK as further dry spells could threaten the supply of water as part of a hydrological drought. 'Droughts are expected to onset more rapidly and become more intense as the planet warms since the atmosphere's thirst for water grows. A warming climate means moisture is more readily sapped from one region and blown into storm systems elsewhere, intensifying both wet and dry weather extremes with wilder swings between them. The only way to limit the increasing severity of wet and dry extremes is to rapidly cut greenhouse gas emissions across all de tors of society.' Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion There have not been any major reservoirs built in England for more than 30 years, but the government announced yesterday that it has approved two to begin construction. The Guardian reported recently that to avert a drought there would need to be rainfall at levels last seen in 2012, when record-breaking deluges caused floods across the country. This does not look likely with hot, dry weather ahead.
