Lower Thames to West London Reservoirs

We're in the early stages of the Lower Thames to West London Reservoirs project. Our aim is to improve how we move and store water between the lower River Thames and the West London reservoirs. This is crucial during dry spells when river levels drop. This project will help ensure a strong water supply for London, especially in droughts.

Our regulators ask us to share updates about new water resource projects. They want to track our progress and explore options. We’ve reached the first stage of our project, called Gate 1. At this stage, we’ve found a preferred option. It includes taking water from the River Thames at Surbiton and moving it to the Queen Mary Reservoir through a tunnel. This will happen within our existing abstraction licenses, so it won’t affect the river more than our current operations.

We’ve submitted the initial Gate 1 report to the regulators. We’ll keep looking into how to develop this project further as part of the Gate 2 process. If we move forward, there will be public consultation during the formal planning phase.