Somerset MP calls for upgrades to increase capacity of local reservoir
Ian Liddell-Grainger claims Wimbleball Dam must be raised 'as rapidly as possible'
Last updated 9th Jun 2024
The Conservative MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset claims works needs to start 'rapidly' on one of the South West's largest reservoir dams to avoid 'chronic' water shortages.
That's the claim made by Ian Liddell-Grainger, who's warning Exmoor's water source needs to see its capacity increased to secure water supplies in the future.
The reservoir was built in response to the 1976 drought but after a hot, dry summer is only at 17 per cent capacity - a level not seen since its original impounding.
Mr Liddell-Grainger has already accused SWW of recklessness in not imposing restrictions on water use during the record-breaking summer.
Now, he says, the company must implement contingency plans and add ten feet to the height of the 160-foot dam wall.
"The original design of the Wimbleball dam allowed for this to happen at some future point and in my opinion that point has now been reached,” he said.
“Wimbleball was the last major storage facility to be built in the southwest and it is clear that in its present form it is inadequate to meet the increased demands from thousands of new homes, particularly during prolonged hot, dry weather.”
Mr Liddell-Grainger said when it was constructed the concept of global warming was hardly on the agenda.
“In fact scientific opinion at the time suggested we were far more likely to be heading for another ice age,” he said.
“That scenario changed when scientists began to go public on the warming challenges in the 80s and 90s. The worrying aspect is that not only are the changes they forecast underway, they are happening far more rapidly than all but the most pessimistic of them predicted.
“It is clear that summers of the kind we have had are likely to become the norm from now on and if the same applies to the dry springs we have also been experiencing then we are going to need to capture every last drop of rain that falls.”
Mr Liddell-Grainger said a scheme to raise the height of the dam wall could be achieved relatively quickly and inexpensively.
“But it will only buy us some time,” he said.
“In the long term we are going to need to vastly increase water storage in this region and every other and the water companies are going to have to start immediately investing in major reservoir-building - as it was intended they would when water privatisation took place.”
A spokesperson for SWW said: “We are taking a number of measures to increase water resilience and storage across the region. Reservoir levels at Wimbleball remain very low currently, due to the unprecedented drought and dry weather this year.
"We are planning and investing for the future today, investing in new reservoirs and finding innovative ways to collect, store and treat water. For our region, this includes Stannon Lake, Porth Reservoir and our most recent acquisition, Hawkstor, a redundant china clay pit."
They added: "These additional resources will provide up to 30% of the region’s water requirement in the future. This is alongside an investment of £27 million in our water grid, ensuring we can move water where it’s most needed.”
Back in August, South West Water introduced a 'hosepipe ban' for the regions of Cornwall and in Upper Devon, which they claim led to a circa 10% reduction in demand across the region - during a time in which the region has experienced its fourth driest period since records began, more than 130 years ago.
Wimbleball Lake also supplies Wessex Water, as well as South West Water.
It can hold 21,000 megalitres of water over an area spanning 374 acres of the Exmoor countryside.
You can see the current level of water at Wimbleball, as well as four other of the South West's largest reservoirs, here.