Anglian Water plans to create two new reservoirs to serve the East Anglian region of the UK.
One of them will be a joint project with Cambridge Water and will lie in the Fens, near the border of Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, and will supply 100 million litres of water a day.
The other will be located in Lincolnshire, supplying 160 million litres daily. It is expected to cost between £2 billion and £4billion (€2.3-€4.7 billion).
Anglian Water hopes to start building the reservoirs by 2030 so that they can supply water for at least 750,000 homes by the mid to late 2030s.
Alex Plant, director of strategy and regulation for Anglian Water, said: “It’s plain to see when you look out the window right now just how precious water is. It’s the lifeblood of the region for our customers, businesses, agriculture and nature.
“The current situation presents an obvious backdrop as to why projects like this are needed, but the reality is because we’ve known the future promises many more people, but far fewer raindrops, we have been working on these projects for years, as we know how long they take to come to fruition.
“Getting these projects under way now means the chances of our taps running dry are significantly reduced, as well as helping us take a big step forward in protecting the environment by reducing how much we take from elsewhere in the region.”
Anglian Water said the reservoirs are two of the 18 strategic water resources projects it Water is developing with regulators. It is also building a 400 km strategic pipeline to move water from the wetter north to the south and east of the region.
The projects form a key part of the companies’ 25-year Water Resources Management Plans, and are linked to wider regional plans led by Water Resources East.
Two new reservoirs planned for eastern England
