Thames Water’s £7.5bn reservoir near Abingdon ‘critical’

Leonie Dubois, Head of Engagement, Land and Consents at Thames Water, said: “The South East is designated as seriously water stressed and as we enter the fourth heatwave of the summer it’s clear climate change is already having an impact.

“It’s therefore critical that we continue to progress our plans for White Horse Reservoir.

“It would act as drought insurance policy for the region, securing water supplies for 15 million people, including Thames Water, Affinity Water and Southern Water customers.”

The White Horse Reservoir, near Abingdon, will provide water for 15 million people across the south east.

The project has been labelled a “vital piece of national water infrastructure” by Thames Water.

But, in a statement action group ‘Group Against Reservoir Development’ called the reservoir the wrong solution in the wrong place.

The massive reservoir, which will cover an area the size of Gatwick Airport, has always been a topic of debate.

Only Kielder Water in Northumberland, at 200 billion litres, is bigger.

READ MORE: Rain to reverse Oxfordshire drought won’t arrive till October

Map of Abingdon reservoir location. (Image: Google Maps)

Two groups, Countryside charity CPRE Oxfordshire and Safer Waters, even sought a judicial review at the High Court.

However, their judicial review was dismissed.

 Thames Water revealed that costs for the controversial proposed Abingdon Reservoir soared from £2.2 billion to between £5.5 billion and £7.5 billion, a tripling of the original figure

This will be borne by customers of Thames Water, Affinity Water, and Southern Water.

The plan is to tackle an anticipated shortfall of more than a billion litres of water per day in the next 50 years, according to Thames Water.

This projection considers the effects of population growth and climate change.

Thames Water predicts that a severe drought could cost London’s economy alone as much as £500m a day.

Currently, hosepipe bans are already a common occurrence.

The Abingdon Reservoir, also known as the South East Strategic Reservoir Option (SESRO), is expected to be the second largest reservoir in the UK, with a capacity of 150 billion litres.

Only Kielder Water in Northumberland, at 200 billion litres, is bigger.

The site is located three miles southwest of Abingdon.

It is close to the River Thames and features the right geology and ground conditions for a reservoir.

Thames Water has had to plan for more than just the reservoir itself.

The project will include a pumping station, a conveyance tunnel to transfer flows to and from the River Thames near Culham, and infrastructure to link the reservoir to the River Thames for emergency drawdown.

An access road into the site, a temporary rail siding for freight train deliveries, and a compensatory floodplain are also part of the plan.

Local streams will be diverted, and the Steventon–Hanney road will be shifted to the south.