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A consultation has launched today (11 May) relating to the construction of Britain’s first reservoir in half a century at Havant in Hampshire to supply to drought-prone Southern Water’s westerly catchment.
The reservoir at Havant Thicket will be built by Portsmouth Water as part of a long-term supply deal with neighbouring Southern to supply 21 million litres of water to up to 160,000 people each day.
The 8.7 billion litre reservoir would bolster stressed supplies in the region and protect the environments and habitats of chalk streams – namely the protected rivers Test and Itchen.
The consultation is part of the planning phase, which runs until April 2021 followed by initial construction to access and carry out environmental work.
Construction of the reservoir is expected to begin from June 2023 and run until December 2026, after which the visitor centre would be built, and the reservoir filled. All work is scheduled to be completed by the end of December 2029.
Havant was an abundance of water from approximately 50 spring sources, which will allow Portsmouth Water to export around 20-25 per cent of water to next door Southern by 2030.
The two companies entered a bulk supply agreement to transfer 15 million litres of water from Portsmouth to Southern after the latter was required to reduce abstraction from chalk streams.
The reservoir is intended to create a public community space, which chief executive of Portsmouth Bob Taylor said is very important for the business to be prominent in the community.
Taylor said: “Our links to our community are very strong and we are proud to not only to help with the water supply situation but to provide a great habit and environmental asset for everybody in the region to enjoy.”
The site would include a wetland, bird watching areas, a visitor centre with a dining area and space for members of the public to walk and cycle around the open space.
The reservoir would be built on the grassland site next to Havant Thicket, which sits in between Rowlands Castle, Leigh Park and Staunton Country Park in Havant, Hampshire.
The consultation runs until 8 June and will involve a series of webinars for stakeholders to participate in a question and answer session about the proposed work.
Taylor said the urgency of meeting water shortage issues and the need to protect chalk stream environments meant the teams proceeded with the consultation despite restrictions of coronavirus.
He added that coronavirus had forced the team to be more innovative in the way it approached the consultation to include virtual presentations and webinar sessions within the process.
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