Low water levels in welsh reservoirs after record dry spell (Image: Getty)

       Two new major reservoirs are to be built in England for the first time in 30 years to help prevent water shortages. The projects in East Anglia and Lincolnshire have been awarded“nationally significant” status, giving Environment Secretary Steve Reed powers to seize control of the planning process.

       Previous official estimates suggested construction on the East Anglia project could begin in 2030 and have the reservoir operational by 2037. The Lincolnshire project could begin being built in 2031 and be running by 2040.

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       But the Government hopes it can speed up the planning processes and begin construction sooner. It comes as the Environment Agency warned of the risk of drought this summer without sustained rainfall after the driest start to spring in nearly six decades, with millions of households told they may face restrictions on water use in the coming months.

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       Mark Lloyd, chief executive of the Rivers Trust, said: "With drought predictions for the summer getting ever more dire and reservoirs a long way down the planning line, we need to look at pressure on our water supplies more strategically. Large reservoirs may well be part of the solution for the long term, but we need action now on how we use the water we have and how we manage rainwater as it falls."

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       He added: "The Government must tackle the threat of water scarcity holistically alongside flooding and water quality. That is the only way its ambitious agenda for water and the environment can ever be realised."

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       The Havant Thicket Reservoir, a partnership between Portsmouth Water and Southern Water, is also currently being built in East Hampshire.

       No major new reservoir had been built for more than 30 years, since privatisation, by that point.

       In 2023, the Government's official National Infrastructure Commission warned that the UK needed more reservoirs.

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       The Government said that rapid population growth and a warming climate meant the UK could run out of clean drinking water by the middle of the next decade without a major infrastructure overhaul.

       Campaigners have warned the Government must also solve the “scandal of leakage”.

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       The UK still loses around three billion litres of drinking water every day.

       Water minister Emma Hardy said: “Today we are backing the builders, not the blockers, intervening in the national interest and slashing red tape to make the planning process faster to unblock nine new reservoirs.

       “This Government will secure our water supply for future generations and unlock the building of thousands of homes as part of the plan for change.”