Fens Reservoir
Anglian Water are proposing a new public water supply reservoir in the Fens. The RSPB wants your support to make sure that this once in a generation opportunity protects and enhances the area’s wonderful wetlands for people and for nature.
On this page
Overview
The proposal is for a Grafham Water-sized reservoir near Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, along with a sister reservoir project in Lincolnshire. If they go ahead, these will be the first public water supply reservoirs built in England for over 30 years.
They are being proposed to meet the urgent need for more drinking water in the region. This demand is from an increasing population, along with an urgent need to reduce groundwater abstraction which is adversely affecting the region’s internationally important chalk streams.
We have first-hand experience of this at our RSPB Fowlmere Reserve south of Cambridge, which holds the headwater springs of the River Shep. These springs would go dry most summers if the Environment Agency didn’t provide mitigatory groundwater pumping to keep the river flowing. However, this is often not enough to also keep our reserve wet, leading to a number of summers recently where our reedbeds, pools and swamps have gone dry. This situation is exacerbated by groundwater abstraction for public water supply in the area which depletes the aquifer.
A Nature Opportunity in the Fens?
The preferred reservoir site is not too far away from our RSPB Ouse Washes Reserve. This manmade washland stretches for nearly 21 miles across the Cambridgeshire Fens and its seasonally flooded wet grassland habitat holds internationally important populations of breeding waders such as black-tailed godwit and snipe. However, for the last 30 years, they have increasingly suffered from late spring flooding which drowns their nests and has led to rapidly decreasing populations.
The new reservoir would take the majority of its supply out of the Great Ouse River system in the winter. But it could be designed so that it also takes water reactively out of the river system in the spring, so reducing the chances of flooding and safeguarding wader nests. If possible, this would be an amazing conservation success, and a real ‘silver bullet’ to an intractable problem.
At the same time though, we will be working hard to ensure that the Ouse Washes is not threatened by the possibility of using the reserve for ‘emergency drawdown’ where water might be dumped onto the washlands in the unlikely event of a problem.
The reservoir project might also provide other significant nature benefits. There is the possibility of new wetland habitats both as part of the reservoir, but potentially also off-site. If designed well, these could provide an important haven for the some of the Fens’ iconic species and provide stepping stones’ to help connect existing wetlands in the area.
Local Well-Being
The reservoir could be designed to become a really fantastic destination for local Fens communities. Despite being surrounded by farmland, there are limited opportunities for local people to enjoy the great outdoors and experience nature first-hand. With appropriate infrastructure, the new site could connect local people with wetland nature, and provide a really important resource to bolster physical and mental well-being.
Carbon
As much of The Fens was wetland before it was drained for agriculture, its soils hold significant residual amounts of peat. The oxidation and erosion of this peat leads to significant carbon dioxide emissions from The Fens every year. It will be important that the project treats any peat on the site properly so it is not lost. It’s also really important that the construction and operation of such a large bit of infrastructure is done in the most carbon-efficient way possible, so we will be pressing for this as well.
We see the proposed Fens Reservoir as a significant opportunity for nature. We will be working with Anglian Water along with our partners to try and get the best result for wildlife.
Why is it worth fighting for?
The Fens is an internationally important area for wetland birds and wildlife. For instance, most of the UK population of black-tailed godwits breed here along with many other species of waders. Sites in the Fens also hold nationally important breeding populations of iconic wetland birds like bitterns and cranes. Thousands of wintering wildfowl such as Bewicks and whooper swans winter in the Fens.
How you can help
Over the next few years Anglian Water will be undertaking a number of public consultations on the project as it progresses. We will update this page and let people know through our RSPB England Blog when there are opportunities for you to engage.
Our position
At the moment the project is in its early stages of development. This gives us the opportunity to work closely with our conservation partners in the Fens to try to influence the project ambition and design, so that any possible adverse impacts on nature and the Ouse Washes are avoided, and that the considerable nature-positive potential of this major piece of infrastructure is realised. As the project design develops we will have a clearer view of these elements, which we will update on this page.
Timeline
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21 December 2022
Deadline for comments on Anglian Water's public consultation for the design concept of the reservoir- see our RSPB England Blog.
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October 2022
Anglian Water and Cambridge Water announce their preferred site for a reservoir near Chatteris. RSPB supporters respond to the first informal consultation on the project concept, asking that the project is ambitious in its scope for more wetland nature and more nature access for local communities.
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May 2023
Anglian Water publish the results of the first public consultation. Thanks to the response from our supporters, all our concerns and asks are front and centre of the results, a brilliant result! The support of so many concerned people mean that Anglian Water got the message loud and clear about the opportunities this project could create, along with the need to avoid unnecessary impacts.
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June 2023 – May 2024
RSPB and our conservation partners in the Fens continue to contribute to discussions with Anglian Water and its consultants on the high-level design options for the reservoir and it associated water infrastructure, making the case for nature.
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June 2024
Anglian Water release their second public consultation on the Fens Reservoir, which sets out more details of the reservoir design and the associated water infrastructure. We will provide details on our RSPB England Blog of how you can respond and support the RSPB and nature in the Fens.
