Anglian Water reveals location of new reservoir planned near Norfolk border
The new water source is planned for part of the fens north of Chatteris
Anglian Water has confirmed the location of a brand new reservoir it wants to build just over the Norfolk border in Cambridgeshire.
Proposals would see it built north of Chatteris near the villages of Doddington and Wimblington.
It would supply enough water for a quarter of a million homes and comes after one of the driest summers on record across the East of England.
Dr Geoff Darch, Water Resources Strategy Manager for Anglian Water said:
“This project will build on decades of existing investment in resilient infrastructure – like a 400km strategic pipeline which will move water from the north to the south and east of the region, existing networks of reservoirs and water storage, as well as continuing to help customers to reduce demand and driving down leakage to world leading low levels.
"But we know, that to keep taps running in the future, we’ll need more water storage in our region, in the form of new reservoirs.
“Following a thorough and multi-stage site selection process, assessing a wide range of criteria, we have now identified the best performing location for a new reservoir.
“We know the effect on those impacted by our proposals including homeowners, landowners and the nearby community because we’ve already been speaking to those most directly affected.
"We wanted to give them the opportunity to ask us any questions about what this might mean for them, before publicising the information more widely.  
"We are committed to working with everyone as the project develops and want to hear all views on our emerging proposals."
“The new reservoir will store more water so it’s always on tap when we need it, meeting the challenges of a changing climate and a growing population. It will mean less water is taken from sensitive sources, such as chalk streams, helping us to protect and restore the environment."
A consultation on the plans will begin tomorrow (October 12).