RAPID approves four resilience schemes

Four major strategic water resource schemes in the south of England have been approved by Ofwat to progress towards being shovel-ready in 2025-30.

The regulator has cleared the projects that will ease abstraction from chalk rivers and streams to advance to the next stage in the gated process.

Reducing harmful abstraction from chalk streams in Southern’s western region prompted the need for alternative water sources to be added to the supply network.

The four schemes are part of the Regulators Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) programme. They include a water recycling scheme that could provide 75 million litres per day to Southern’s supply, and transfers from the Havant Thicket reservoir, which is due to be completed by 2029.

As well as these options, which passed the initial RAPID gates in January 2021, there are two new schemes.

The first is a Severn Trent project exploring the best option to expand the capacity of the Upper Derwent Valley reservoir either by raising an existing dam, constructing a new dam or developing a whole new reservoir.

The second, the Mendips Quarries solution, proposes to repurpose a quarry as a reservoir after it has ceased operations in 2040 to supply to the West Country and/or South East England.

Plans for a desalination plant in Fawley were discontinued as a less attractive option than water recycling and transfers.

Paul Hickey, managing director of RAPID said: “It is vital that we find the right solutions to deliver resilient water supplies across England, but we must also ensure that the environment is not only protected but also enhanced by these solutions.

“It’s also great to see that collaboration is continuing to happen across the sector with new proposed solutions still being received by RAPID. The Upper Derwent Valley reservoir expansion makes full use of existing infrastructure and Mendips Quarries solution makes use of a man-made quarry pit,” Hickey added.

Across the country a further 15 major schemes are being explored as part of RAPID to move water from areas of abundance to drier parts. Projects to bolster supplies in the south of England are subject to an accelerated gate system because of greater water stress in this region.

In PR19, £469 million was ring-fenced for RAPID submissions to be shovel-ready for the next regulatory cycle from 2025. The Alliance is made up of regulators Ofwat, Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate as well as CCW, Natural Resources Wales and Natural England. RAPID was conceived to work through regulatory barriers to large-scale inter-region projects.