From BBC
Two major new reservoir projects have been fast-tracked in a bid to shore up England’s water supplies, the government has announced.
The projects in East Anglia and south Lincolnshire have been declared “nationally significant”, allowing them to speed through the planning process.
But overriding local objections can be unpopular and the reservoirs could still be more than a decade away from opening.
Household consumption of water may also need to fall to secure supplies amid rising temperatures and a growing population, scientists warn.
The announcement means that final decisions about the Fens Reservoir in Cambridgeshire and the Lincolnshire Reservoir will be taken by Environment Secretary Steve Reed, rather than at a local level.
This change amounts to “slashing red tape to make the planning process faster” to “secure our water supply for future generations”, according to Water Minister Emma Hardy.
The two reservoirs are currently pencilled for completion in 2036 and 2040 respectively.
They “would provide more resilience to future droughts in a part of the country that is already dry and where there is high demand for water,” said Dr Glenn Watts, water science director at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.
Reservoirs can help protect against the impacts of drought by collecting excess rainfall during wet periods.
With climate change likely to bring hotter, drier summers, the chances of drought could increase in the decades ahead, the Met Office says.
These preparations have been brought into sharp focus by this year’s exceptionally dry spring.
Extra demand from new houses, data centres and other sectors could further squeeze supplies, but no major reservoirs have been completed in England since 1992, shortly after the water sector was privatised.
Last year the government and water companies announced proposals to build nine new reservoirs by 2050.
Together they have the potential to provide 670 million litres of extra water per day,
