UK reservoir - Rutland water (case study)

It is a reservoir in the East Midlands, it is western Europe's largest man-made lake

It was built during the 1970's - not without controversy (planning and consultation took 10 years)

It covers an area of 12kmsquared, it is filled by the River Nene and the River Welland

It was designed to support the East Midlands with more water (specifically Peterborough which had a rapidly growing population)

It also serves as a nature reserve and a recreation facility

Up to 270million litres per day are continuously pumped

Distributed to 500,000 people in 5 counties

It boosted the local economy as it is a popular tourist destination due to it's wildlife and recreational facilities, such as bike hire

23 miles of river bank (bikers and walkers), 3,100 acres for sport (sailors and windsurfers), museum attracts 30,000 visitors a year, earns £100 million annually, employs 2,312 staff, £112,912,708 in revenues and £34,914,872 in salaries

Around 6kmsquared of land was flooded to create the reservoir, destroying farms (farmers lost their livelihoods)

Some cottages were destroyed (beehive cottage, red house and beech farm), Mr and Mrs Locker of Beech farm said they lost cowsheds, milling parlours and stables, howevere they both got new jobs working for Anglian

Many jobs have been created to help build and maintain the reservoir (over 2,000 people)

Lots of recreational facilities have been created (sailing, windsurfing, birdwatching and cycling)

Normanton Church (medieval) was saved and the floor was raised by 3 metres, the walls were waterproofed and a stone embankment was created in order to protect the historic attraction

Schools use the site for education visits

2 villages were destroyed in order to create the reservoir - this was opposed by a local interest group and a political party (lower and nether hamilton)

There were many NIMBY (not in my back yard) petitions

Rutland water is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) - an area where wildlife is protected

Hundreds of species of bird live around the reservoir (e.g. waterfowl - live near or on the water)

50 acres of farmland was turned into wetland attracting many different species

A wide variety of habitats - marshes, mudflats, lagoons

20,000 birds live there and 100,000 trout were released there

Ospreys (fish eating birds of prey that were extinct from Britain) have been reintroduced to central england by the Rutland Osprey Project at the reservoir

Some habitats were destroyed when the land was flooded

relics dating back to 200 million years ago were found when the River Gwash valley was submerged (below jurassic sea)

The reservoir has to be sustainable in order for people to get enough water today and in the future

The water level must be kept constant, so the water that is taken out must be replaced

A £65 million programmed has been put in place to ensure sufficient pumping facilities and repair work