Where will England’s next reservoirs be?

England is forecast to need an extra 400 million litres of water each day by the middle of the century. A combination of growing population, the changing climate and the need to relieve pressure on rivers and streams by lowering abstraction means companies need to get to work bolstering supplies as soon as possible.

Utility Week takes a look at eight of the strategic options to add more supplies where they are most needed, through extra storage. There has not been a reservoir built in England since 1989 but the coming decades will see regions playing catch up. However, water companies will not be able to do this in isolation. The National Infrastructure Commission is among the voices calling for planning rules to be amended to expedite permission for such projects.

For the past year companies have consulted with customers and stakeholders on water resource management plans (WRMPs) and this week published responses ahead of PR24 business plans being submitted in early October.

Each strategy integrates with those of neighbouring water companies into regional water resource plans to ensure supplies can be maximised and surplus resources moved to areas facing a deficit.

This is the first time statutory regional plans have been created with the intention of delivering across whole regions to meet customer needs now and into the future.

A major scheme moving through the processes is at a regional level, for a South East Strategic Reservoir (SESRO) proposed to be built and online by the 2040s. Located in near Abingdon in Oxfordshire, the storage will benefit customers of Thames and Affinity.

Construction of the 150 million metre squared storage will begin in the 2030s with the aim of serving customers by the 2040s. Within the regional south east plan, it is the preferred option for regional storage that Thames and Affinity each benefit from.

Anglian Water’s customer feedback broadly supported the company’s proposals to add two reservoirs, with customers recognising the positive impacts for the sites in the Fens and South Lincolnshire. Demand management was increased and leakage ambition to 2030 is now 38% reduction, up from 24% in the draft WRMP prior to consultation.

Havant Thicket is set to be the first reservoir built since the 1980s in response to shortages in the Hampshire region. Although planned to be situated in Portsmouth’s region, much of the resources will be supplied to neighbouring Southern Water for use in its western region. The plans attracted some controversy at consultation, with more than half of all the feedback received by Portsmouth relating to the transfer scheme which would see treated wastewater recycled into the reservoir.

Portsmouth backs the proposal, however said it would revoke support if there was any doubt about safety of the water or adverse environmental impacts.

Severn Trent aims to increase storage capacity at existing reservoirs during the five years to 2030 and begin working on larger expansions from 2040 onwards. For this and other work, the company calculated a likely £218 million investment each year to 2050, making bills £43 higher.

South East Water plans to add a reservoir at Broad Oak in Kent by 2033 to supply 22 megalitres daily while allowing the company to reduce groundwater abstractions. Later in its plans, the company wants to add a new reservoir in Arlington, Sussex to feed 18 megalitres daily into the network by 2057.

At Broad Oak, design work is underway and planning permission for the site near Canterbury is in process. At Arlington, the plan is to add a new reservoir next to the existing one.

A desalination plant planned for the Kent coast will add 30 megalitres daily by 2044 to South East’s supply.

South West Water laid out plans to increase supplies in the region by one third. This includes work underway to convert ex-quarries into storage reservoirs and in the future to add a second reservoir in Cheddar. Its plans focus on water transfers between existing storage and supply options to meet changing abstraction rules by relieving demand on sources.

Southern Water, as well as the Havant Thicket reservoir in Hampshire, floated the idea of a new site in West Sussex adjacent to the River Adur. Feasibility studies for the 19.5 megalitre/daily supply are currently being investigated with the site predicted to be online in 2039/40.

For London and the Home Counties, Thames Water forecasts an extra billion litres of water will be needed in the coming 50 years because of population growth and climate change. The company’s plan specifies building the SESRO in Oxfordshire together with Affinity and with supply options to Southern. Between the draft plan and the revision, the size for the proposed reservoir has increased from 100 million metres square, to 150 million meters squared.