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HM GovernmentHousing & environment

Build nine new reservoirs by 2050

“And we have kickstarted the building of nine new reservoirs by 2050.”

In planDepartment for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs press release (GOV.UK), 29 May 2025
  2. In plan

Where it stands

The nine are in the water companies' long-term water resources plans, which the government approved in January 2025, and in the Water White Paper (January 2026); Defra says the companies have committed to bring them online by 2050, in Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Suffolk, Kent, East Sussex and the West Midlands. Water companies build them and bill payers fund them through Ofwat's price review, so there is no cost to the public purse; the government's part is approval and planning. As of 12 October 2026 none has applied for planning consent; the companies aim for the Fens reservoir in 2036 and Lincolnshire by 2040. Havant Thicket, under construction, is not one of the nine. Ministers restated the commitment without a date on 9 October 2026.

What has happened

  1. May 2025Defra commits to fast-track the delivery of nine new reservoirs, directing the Fens and Lincolnshire reservoirs into the national planning regime, Promised
  2. Jan 2026The Water White Paper plans nine new reservoirs as part of increased investment in new water resources, In plan evidence
  3. Feb 2026Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds gives a date: nine new reservoirs by 2050, Reworded evidence
  4. Dec 2050Nine new reservoirs due to be online by 2050, Deadline

More detail

Sources (5)
Earlier wording (1)
  1. Version 2, 11 Feb 2026“And we have kickstarted the building of nine new reservoirs by 2050.”
  2. Version 1, 29 May 2025“This immediate step delivers on this government’s commitment to fast-track the delivery of nine new reservoirs, supporting its plans to get Britain building and deliver 1.5 million new homes by the end of this parliament.”
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