Thames Water redraws mega-reservoir plan amid local opposition

Подробности

A community drop-in session for the proposed reservoir in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty View image in fullscreen A community drop-in session for the proposed reservoir in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Thames Water Thames Water redraws mega-reservoir plan amid local opposition A new public consultation has opened on the 150bn-litre above-ground White Horse project in Abingdon, Oxfordshire

Prefer the Guardian on Google Thames Water has amended the blueprint of a planned mega-reservoir in Oxfordshire as the struggling utility tries to convince regulators that construction should go ahead amid warnings of “catastrophic consequences”.

The White Horse reservoir near Abingdon is scheduled to hold 150bn litresof water with a surface area of 6.7 sq km (2.6 sq miles) – almost the same size as Gatwick airport.

The estimated cost has rocketed from £2.2bn to between £5.5bn and £7.5bn after a review last year more than tripled the site to 38 sq km to accommodate extra building works, relocate adjacent solar farms and reroute local rivers and streams.

Thames Water said the scheme, formerly known as the South East Strategic Reservoir Option, needed “additional access points to carry out construction and environmental mitigation works, such as new habitat creation”, forcing it to carry out “targeted consultation with landowners, and those with an interest in land that may be impacted by this change”.