Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the construction of new reservoirs in England.

Defra recently published its Plan for Water which set out the importance of ensuring a clean and plentiful water supply. The Plan sets out our commitment to a twin track approach to improving water resilience, with action to reduce water company leaks alongside investing in new supply infrastructure including reservoirs. The Government also supports the Agricultural sector with its Water Management Grant, under the Farming Transformation Fund, for the construction of new on-farm reservoirs. We aim to launch a third round of the grant next year in 2024.

Regional water resources groups and water companies have consulted on their draft water resources plans. These statutory plans set out how each company will secure water supplies sustainably for at least the next 25 years. The draft water resources management plans contain proposals for multiple new schemes by 2050, including nine new reservoirs, as well as the expansion of some existing reservoirs.

Water companies are also using the £469 million made available by Ofwat in the period 2020-2025, to develop strategic water resources options required to improve the resilience water supplies. In April 2023, Ofwat announced that water companies are bringing forward £2.2bn for new water infrastructure, starting in the next two years, with £350 million worth of investment in water resilience schemes.