Development of strategic water resources in England

Abstract

Prompted by policy announcements from government and regulators, a major programme of strategic water resource development in England has commenced, with the aim of addressing the long-term challenges of climate change, population growth and protecting the environment. Among other types of solutions, reservoirs feature heavily as a potential solution, either new reservoirs or enhancements to existing reservoirs. A high-level generic comparison of the solution types indicates that reservoirs have numerous advantages, with their biggest disadvantages being the timescale involved in getting permission to construct the reservoir. The community of reservoir engineers have the opportunity to get involved in articulating the benefits of reservoirs and in formulating the plans for water resources for next 50 years.