Havant, United Kingdom
City population: 514053
Duration: in planning stage – ongoing
Implementation status: In planning stage
Scale: Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level
Project area: unknown
Type of area: Natural Heritage Area/Untouched nature
Last updated: June 2024

Portsmouth and its surrounding areas are under ‘serious water stress’ and water companies are being asked to take less water from some of their sources. This includes reductions to the amount of water that Southern Water can take from the rivers Test and Itchen in Hampshire. To address this, Portsmouth Water started the planning of a new Havant Thicket Reservoir. The water to be stored in the reservoir will be supplied from surplus winter yield from the Havant & Bedhampton Springs. In winter, higher rainfall leads to a higher springs yield which flows into the sea, but a portion would now be pumped to the new reservoir. Long-term benefits of the proposed reservoir include enhancing the local environment and providing a new wetland habitat. (1,5) In November 2020, the Havant Thicket Reservoir planning applications have been submitted to Havant Borough Council and East Hampshire District Council for validation. (7)

Havant Thicket Reservoir
Source: https://portsmouthwaterreservoirconsultation.uk.engagementhq.com/how-the-reservoir-may-look

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Blue infrastructure
  • In-land wetlands, peatlands, swamps, and moors
  • Green areas for water management
  • Other
  • Parks and urban forests
  • Large urban parks or forests

Key challenges

  • Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
  • Climate change adaptation
  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Water management (SDG 6)
  • Flood protection
  • Stormwater and rainfall management and storage
  • Health and well-being (SDG 3)
  • Creation of opportunities for recreation

Focus

Creation of semi-natural blue areas

Project objectives

1. Havant Thicket Reservoir to be a potential new regional water resource and green infrastructure site. (1) 2. A potential solution to meet the increasing water resource demand in the south-east Hampshire (1,2) 3. Important future resource for addressing resilience issues for the Company (1) 4. Enhancing the local environment (1) 5. Creating new recreation opportunities (1,2)

Implementation activities

- Public consultation to map locals' and affected and interested stakeholders' view on the idea of the reservoir Planned implementation activities: - Creating new woodlands and hedgerows - already started in 2019 with the plantation of trees and hedgerows that create a woodland corridor (5) - Improving existing woodlands next to the reservoir (5) - Creating a large wetland to support a range of wildlife, including nesting birds (5) - Planting wildflowers on the reservoir banks (5) - Setting up a grant scheme to support biodiversity projects further afield (5) - Building a visitor centre (5) - Building of an embankment along the reservoir with recreational features such as cycling and walking routes (6) - Creation of the water reservoir holding more than eight million cubic metres of water (3,5,6,7)

Climate-focused activities

Climate change adaptation:

  • Implement sustainable urban drainage infrastructure (e.g. to make space for water)

Main beneficiaries

  • Local government/Municipality
  • Private sector/Corporate/Company
  • Citizens or community groups

Governance

Management set-up

  • Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Private sector/corporate actor/company

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

The construction of the Havant Thicket Reservoir is initiated by Portsmouth Water - utility company responsible for water supply and distribution in the City of Portsmouth. During the planning process, wide stakeholder Group was involved comprising local community representatives including councillors, local authorities, wildlife organisations, the Consumer Council for Water, Staunton Country Park and the Forestry Commission. (2)

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Unknown
... a national policy or strategy? Unknown
... a local policy or strategy? Yes (The Reservoir was included in the Havant Borough Council and East Hants District Council Local Plan Core Strategy document in relation to: - Drinking water infrastructure site, and - Green infrastructure site (1) Also, the Portsmouth Water Company's Water Resources Management Plan mentions the reservoir (2))

Financing

Total cost

More than €4,000,000

Source(s) of funding

  • Corporate investment

Type of funding

  • Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Green space and habitat
  • Promotion of naturalistic styles of landscape design for urban development
  • Increased green space area
  • Increased ecological connectivity across regeneration sites and scales
  • Reduced biodiversity loss
  • Increased number of species present
  • Enhanced support of pollination
  • Increased spread of native/heirloom/open-pollinated seed
  • Other

Economic impacts

  • Unknown

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Health and wellbeing
  • Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
  • Education
  • Increased support for education and scientific research

Type of reported impacts

Expected impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Unknown

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

References

1. Portsmouth Water (n.d) Havant Thicket Reservoir. Website not available
2. Portsmouth Water. (2008). Havant Thicket Winter Storage Reservoir. Newsletter Issue 4.
3. Travis, J. (2011). Havant reservoir may be held up for 25 more years. Website not available.
4. Horndean Post. (2015). Havant Thicket reservoir plan still on firm's agenda. Accessed on November 12, 2020, Source link
5. Rowland Castle Heritage Centre. (2019). Havant Thicket Reservoir – Briefing Note - Newsletter 2019. Accessed on November 12, 2020, Source link
6. Portsmouth Water. (2020). Take a virtual tour of Havant Thicket Reservoir (video). Accessed on November 12, 2020, Source link
7. Portsmouth Water. (2020). Planning applications submitted for Havant Thicket Reservoir by Portsmouth Water (video). Accessed on November 12, 2020, Source link
8. BBC News. (2020). New Havant reservoir 'could destroy ancient woodland'. Accessed on November 12, 2020, Source link
9. Portsmouth Water. (n .d). Havant Thicket Reservoir Public Consultation. Accessed on November 12, 2020, Source link
Havant Thicket Reservoir
Source: https://portsmouthwaterreservoirconsultation.uk.engagementhq.com/how-the-reservoir-may-look
Havant Thicket Reservoir
Source: http://atlas.naturvation.eu/sites/default/files/nbs/files/pt-havant_thicket_winter_storage_reservoir.pdf