How do you fill a 150 billion litre reservoir?

As plans move forward to build a 150 billion litre reservoir in the Thames Valley, attention is now turning to how to fill it.

Thames Water will be applying for planning permission for the White Horse Reservoir, near Abingdon in Oxfordshire, by the end of the year, with a view to supplying 15 million customers across the south east by 2040.

According to the plans, the facility, with an estimated cost of between £5.5bn and £7.5bn, would be filled with water from the River Thames in the winter “when there’s plenty of water.”

But with the Thames Valley only having 35% of its average rainfall so far this month, an innovative project is finding natural ways to harvest the water further up stream.

In an area to the north west of Oxfordshire, 240 farmers, with land backing onto the Evenlode, Cherwell and Windrush rivers, are part of the Evenlode Landscape Recovery programme.

The project has been given £100m over 20 years by Defra, to transform the natural environment, helping contribute towards flood resilience, promoting biodiversity and improving the supply of water to the south east.

It works by managing the soil, helping it to become more crumbly in texture, allowing more rain to be absorbed into the limestone beneath, rather than washing away.