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Reservoirs and Drinking Water
Reservoirs have made a significant impact on the Peak District landscape of today. Explore these links to find out more:
Why is water so important?
What do you need to build a reservoirs?
The impacts of reservoirs
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Why is water so important?
People have always depended on water. Today we use water not only for drinking but for a wide range of activities.
Did you know?
- the human body is about 60% water
- the average person in the western world used about 135 litres of water per day compared to about 2.5 litres per day in a developing country
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What do you need to build a reservoir?
1. Lots of rain
The Peak District moorlands are particularly wet, soggy places. This is due to their geographical location:
- The Pennines are to the west of England and the first to receive the prevailing wet westerly winds from across the Atlantic
- The land is up to 600 metres or more above sea level
2. A basin to hold the water in
The Dark Peak has a number of advantages that make it very good for collecting water:
- The shale valleys are impermeable i.e. hold water
- The shale valleys are fairly steep sided basins and so are easy to 'plug' or dam
- Great volumes of relatively clean water flow from the remote moorlands in to the valleys below
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One of the 'plugs' in the Upper Derwent. This dam holds back the Howden reservoir |
3. The result.......
A large number of reservoirs have been built in the Dark Peak to supply the large and expanding cities that surround the Peak District such as Sheffield and Manchester. A 7 km length of the Upper Derwent has been made into the 3 reservoirs of Ladybower, Howden and Derwent.
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The three reservoirs of the Upper Derwent; Howden, Derwent and Ladybower |
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The impacts of reservoirs
There are a number of concerns associated with flooding valleys for water collection:
| For |
Winners |
Against |
Losers |
| The reservoirs provide much needed water to the surrounding towns and cities, as well as villages in the Peak District. |
People living in the towns and cities.
Local people. |
Whole villages have disappeared beneath the reservoirs e.g. the villages of Derwent and Ashopton that were drowned in 1959 as part of the Upper Derwent scheme. When water levels are low the remains of the buildings can be seen sticking out of the waters. |
Local people |
| Excellent recreational resource for people to enjoy. |
Visitors |
Many hill farms disappeared due to the need to keep the waters clean. Only a small number of sheep are allowed to graze above the reservoirs. Very few people live in these hills now. |
Local people |
| Today, management in the Upper Derwent valley has resulted in more native species of trees and shrubs being planted to safeguard the habitats of Red Squirrels, Goshawks and Crossbills. |
Wildlife |
By flooding the valleys the landscape has been dramatically transformed by people. Some plants have been completely lost from the Peak District as a result of flooding.
Coniferous trees were planted on the valley sides to keep the water running into the reservoirs clean but they do not provide an attractive habitat for wildlife. |
Wildlife
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What do you think? Are you for or against reservoirs in the Peak District National Park?
For more information on reservoirs:
download the Upper Derwent Valley Factsheet, the Goyt Valley Factsheet, and the Upper Longdendale Factsheet
visit the time section and explore the history of the Upper Derwent Valley.
search the archive
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