About the new reservoirs

The reservoirs will store water so it’s on tap when we need it, meeting the challenges of a changing climate and a growing population. They will mean less water is taken from sensitive sources, helping us to protect and restore the environment.

 
Both project presents significant social, economic and environmental opportunities for communities and the whole of the East of England.

 

The reservoir in the Fens

Anglian Water and Cambridge Water are proposing a new reservoir in the Fens that will secure water supply to our customers for future generations.

 

We anticipate that the reservoir will be able to supply around 86 million litres of water per day throughout the year to 250,000 homes, increasing water resource availability by capturing water during winter when it is plentiful. 

 

Following a thorough and multi-stage site selection assessment process, we have now identified that the best performing site for the proposed reservoir is an area north of Chatteris and west of the villages of Doddington and Wimblington.

 

Our phase one consultation closed on 21 December 2022.

 

We have received really valuable feedback from local people and stakeholders and want to thank everyone for taking part in the consultation.

 

It’s too early to know exactly how we’ll respond to all the feedback, but your comments are a key part of developing the reservoir to keep impacts as low as possible, and create benefits for people and nature.

 

You can find out more about our phase one consultation and what we’ll be doing next here.

The reservoir in Lincolnshire

Our proposed reservoir in Lincolnshire would store water during winter when flows are at their highest for when it is needed. We anticipate that the reservoir will be able to supply around 160 million litres of water per day to our customers throughout the year.  That’s enough to supply 500,000 homes.

 

Following a thorough and multi-stage site selection assessment process, we have now identified the best performing location for a proposed new reservoir in Lincolnshire.  The proposed location for the reservoir is south-east of Sleaford, about halfway between Grantham and Boston.

 

Our phase one consultation closed on 21 December 2022.

 

We have received really valuable feedback from local people and stakeholders and want to thank everyone for taking part in the consultation.

 

It’s too early to know exactly how we’ll respond to all the feedback, but your comments are a key part of developing the reservoir to keep impacts as low as possible, and create benefits for people and nature.

 

So everyone can see the key themes and issues from the consultation, we will prepare and publish a summary of the feedback.

 

You can find out more about our phase one consultation and what we’ll be doing next here. 

What this means for you

 

It means you can trust that we are investing to protect the environment and improve your future water supply.

 

Apart from that, for the vast majority of customers, there is very little impact.

 

Our proposals are at an early stage. We understand the effect on those impacted by our proposals including homeowners, landowners and the nearby community. We are committed to working with everyone as the two reservoir projects develop and want to hear all views on our emerging proposals.

 

We don't anticipate any immediate impact on bills. One of the reasons we start projects like this so far in advance, is to spread the cost over a long period of time, to reduce impact on customer bills. We believe water should be affordable for everyone and currently at around £430 a year, it is 10 times cheaper than energy bills, despite these massive investments into securing supplies for the future.