GCSE Geography | Water Transfer Schemes in the UK (Resource Management - UK Overview 5)

The UK receives enough water to supply the demand – but it doesn’t always fall where it is most needed!

The north and west of the UK has a water surplus, where supply exceeds demand. There is high rainfall, lower evaporation rates and plenty of potential reservoir sites. These areas have a relatively low population density. Whereas the south and east of the country has a water deficit, where demand exceeds supply. This is the most densely populated part of the country and has the lowest annual rainfall.

So how to we get water from the areas of surplus to the areas of deficit?

A national grid for water?

The British government has considered setting up a national water grid, similar to the national grid for electricity, where the water would flow through pipes from areas of surplus, such as Wales, to areas of deficit, such as London. The idea has been discussed for many years but has not yet been put into practice, partly due to the enormous costs involved.

However, there are some parts of the country where water transfers do happen on a smaller scale. The reservoirs in the mountainous area of North Wales and the Lake District provide water for the densely populated urban areas in the northwest of England, such as Liverpool and Manchester, and the water from the Kielder Reservoir in Northumberland (pictured below) is pumped into the North Tyne River. From there the water can be transferred to three other major rivers: the River Derwent, the River Wear and the River Tees. These rivers then supply water to the major cities of Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough.

Benefits and drawbacks of water transfer schemes

Benefits

Water transfer schemes take water from areas of surplus to areas of deficit – this means that fewer people across the UK will experience periods of water stress, which might result in hosepipe bans and other restrictions on water use being brought in. This is good news, particularly for gardeners or those with allotments.

They also increase the amount of water available for farming and industry in drier areas of the UK. Farming needs a lot of irrigation during the summer months, in particular, so having a more reliable water supply means that crop yields are higher and farmers can make more money, as well as helping to increase UK food security.

Water is also heavily used in industry – so having a more reliable supply could lead to an increase in economic activity, possibly the creation of jobs and therefore economic growth.

Drawbacks

Large scale water transfer schemes are usually planned but discounted so therefore have not been used as a water solution in the UK.

One reason for opposition to water transfer schemes is the cost - they are hugely expensive as they require so much infrastructure to pipe water across the country. Another reason is the use of fossil fuels to generate the power to pump water over large distances – meaning these water transfer schemes have a large carbon footprint.

Lastly, each scheme has a big impact on existing river habitats – they usually involve building some sort of dam in order to create a reservoir which can block migrating species along the river, but the reservoir will also be much deeper than the original river which affects the ecology as water temperature will drop and marine wildlife may struggle to cope.