Overview

• Environment Secretary Steve Reed has designated two reservoir projects in Lincolnshire and East Anglia as nationally significant, shifting approval power from local councils to central government.
• Anglian Water’s Lincolnshire reservoir is expected to supply 166 million litres daily for up to 500,000 homes by 2040, while the Fens reservoir in Cambridgeshire will provide 87 million litres a day to 250,000 homes by 2036.
• Both schemes have now entered the consultation phase, inviting feedback from communities and stakeholders under the fast-tracked process.
• Officials warn that without additional capacity, rising demand from population growth, infrastructure decay and climate pressures could outstrip water supplies by the mid-2030s and stall thousands of planned homes.
• Ministers will introduce legislation to ensure all future major reservoirs are automatically deemed nationally significant and water companies aim to bring nine new sites online by 2050 to add 670 million litres per day.