Reservoir could be built in quarry to supply South West

A quarry could be flooded to become a new reservoir to supply water to thousands of homes in the South West.

Plans are in the "earliest stages", according to water companies, but they are looking at a site in the Mendip Hills in Somerset.

It comes as the government has given its backing to nine new reservoirs in England, including two in Somerset.

The other would be a second reservoir at Cheddar, where survey work has already started.

The government said it had reached an agreement with water companies which "unlocked" £7.9bn of investment over the next five years including the nine new reservoirs.

The Mendip Quarries plan is a joint venture between Wessex Water and the Pennon Group, which owns Bristol Water and South West Water.

A report has been done looking at Torr Works quarry at East Cranmore near Shepton Mallet - where quarrying is due to end in 2040.

A public consultation would take place, but not until 2028-29.

Meanwhile plans for 'Cheddar 2', as it is being called, are at the early design and environmental studied phase, with a public consultation expected later this year.

Kim Williams, Head of Water Resources & Water Efficiency at Pennon Group, which owns Bristol Water and South West Water, said the quarry site was an exciting proposition.

"The scale is new for our region but a really good water resource opportunity of using something that's already there rather than a brand new construction," Ms Williams said.

She added that 2040 is the end of planned quarrying and construction would start after that.

Current early plans for the Mendip Quarries site would give an output annual average of 50 mega litres (50,000,000 litres) each day with a peak of 100 mega litres per day.

A Wessex Water spokesperson said: "The Mendip Quarries plan is both Wessex Water's and Pennon's as part of our West Country Water and Environment collaboration.

"This reservoir is in the earliest stages of development at the moment, so there isn't a lot we can say on it, but it will be used to supply both Wessex Water and Bournemouth Water (Pennon) customers, with the possibility of it extending to include other areas further east."

A sector summary report from the regulator Ofwat, published in December 2024, said the other new reservoirs would be built in Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Kent, East Sussex and the West Midlands.

It said these, plus the two planned for Somerset, have the potential to produce 670m litres of extra water per day, once completed.

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