All eyes are on reservoir construction projects in the UK since the Environmental Agency’s latest announcement that the North West is officially in a drought as of 21 May 2025.
The announcement of the drought has prompted a lot of conversation on final decisions about the proposed Fens Reservoir in Cambridgeshire as well as the Lincolnshire Reservoir. Both projects with estimated completion dates of 2036 and 2040 respectively.
While there are other reservoirs underway currently, none are expected to complete within this decade.
According to the BBC no major reservoir has been completed in England since 1992, and we could be facing drinking water shortages as early as 10 years from now.
Barbour ABI is currently tracking over 200 reservoir construction projects at various planning stages on our Project Leads Platform – click here to learn more. See below for some exclusive data around some of the biggest reservoir projects happening in the UK.
Havant Thicket Winter Storage Reservoir
The project consists of the creation of a winter storage reservoir known as Havant Thicket. The proposed reservoir is expected to cover an area of 232ha, and hold up to 8.7 billion litres.
Its location straddles both East Hampshire District Council and Havant Borough Council.
Plans also include a visitor centre, paths, cycle ways, play areas and water sports facilities, plus a wetland area for birds.
Havant Thicket Reservoir is a multi-phase project including phases to work on the main embankment, watercourse restoration and improvements, and more.
Value: £325m
Planning stage: Outline Approval
Project ID: 11869692
Start Date: Q2 2025
Finish Date: Q2 2031
View Roles for Havant Thicket Reservoir Project
Clients: Portsmouth Water Limited & Southern Water Services Limited
Contractors: JT Mackley & Company Limited, Jones Brothers Ruthin Limited
Planner: WS Atkins Limited
Project Managers: Portsmouth Water Limited, Agilia Infrastructure Partners Limited
Quantity Surveyor: AtkinsRealis
Civil Engineers: Arup, GHD
Consulting Engineers: Arup, Amec Foster Wheeler Environment & Infrastructure Limited
Principal Designers: AtkinsRealis, AECOM, Stantec UK Limited
Fens Reservoir
The Fens Reservoir in Cambridgeshire is one of the three options being considered as a source of water for the Anglian to Affinity (A2AT) SRO and the associated supporting downstream infrastructure.
This will require construction of a pipeline to distribute the flow to where it is required in the Affinity Water supply area. Water would be abstracted when river flows allow and transferred to the reservoir via pipelines, although open water transfers will be considered as part of the development of the concept design for gate two.
A treatment works will be located adjacent to the reservoir to treat the water before it is piped to an existing or new service reservoir or reservoirs.
According to Fens Reservoir, the site will hold 55 million cubic metres of water.
Value: £5bn
Planning stage: Confirmed
Project ID: 12655549
Start Date: 2027
View Roles for Fens Reservoir Project
Clients: Cambridge Water Plc, Anglian Water Plc
Architect: Fereday Pollard Architects
Landscape Architect: LDA Design
Lincolnshire Reservoir
The new reservoir has three potential concept design options considered.
CDO1 includes the construction of a 52.5million cubic metre (MCM) multi-purpose water storage reservoir.
CDO2 includes the construction of a 50MCM PWS reservoir with two separate 0.5MCM bank storage wetlands and five online 0.1MCMspring-fed stream wetlands.
CDO3 includes the construction of a 50MCM PWS reservoir, two 0.5MCM bank storage wetlands, five 0.1MCM spring-fed stream wetlands, an additional 4MCM flood storage reservoir and three 1MCM farming reservoirs.
Lot 1: Reservoir Construction, Lot 2: Treated Water Transfers, Lot 3: Water Treatment Works, Lot 4: Raw water Transfers.
The proposed LR scheme location is 30 miles south of Lincoln. The reservoir will be 2.6km wide and 3.2km long to the embankment toe.
Value: £2.6bn
Planning stage: Confirmed
Project ID: 12655551
Start Date: January 2030
Finish Date: January 2040
View Roles for Lincolnshire Reservoir Project
Clients: Anglian Water Plc, Cambridge Water Plc
Architect: Fereday Pollard Architects
Landscape Architect: LDA Designs
Cheddar 2 Reservoir
The Cheddar 2 Reservoir is an entirely new reservoir set to be constructed in 2029. The project will consist of treatment works and a connection to Bickham Moor.
Cheddar 2, set to be located in Somerset, will provide drinking water for up to 40,000 homes.
The plans for the reservoir were previously dropped in 2018 due to costs and the lack of need for it during that time – according to Ofwat.
Value: £2.8bn
Planning stage: Confirmed
Project ID: 12832961
Start Date: Q3 2029
Finish Date: Q3 2035
View Roles for Cheddar 2 Reservoir Project
Clients: South West Water Services Limited, Bristol Water Plc
Accessing UK Reservoir Construction Projects on Barbour ABI
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