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£14bn plan to share Scots water with England


nine9feet

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The following appears today in The Scotsman.

 

I am wondering what impact, if built, this new waterway will have on the existing system. Would be interesting to see a plan.

 

"IT IS a multi-billion pound plan designed to route fresh Scottish water to the rose gardens, cricket grounds and farms of England’s parched south-east.

A bold proposal to tackle water shortages in Britain’s southern counties by building a vast “super canal” between the two countries is being considered by both the UK and Scottish governments.

The plans, devised by one of the world’s biggest architectural and engineering design firms, envisage a new £14 billion waterway running from the Scottish Borders down through Newcastle and Leeds, winding its way along the west coast of England and taking in extra water on its way.

Known as the Natural Grid, it would eventually branch off as it reached the Home Counties, with routes running down into Hertfordshire and Hampshire to supply homes, businesses and utilities.

The company behind the canal project, Aecom, suggests an initial starting point of the northern Pennines, with the canal eventually extended north to begin its journey in the Southern Uplands.

The plans have been presented to David MacKay, chief scientific advisor to the Department of Energy and Climate Change, and are under consideration. A spokesman for the Scottish Government supported the idea of exporting some of Scotland’s water supplies to the south. “Water is an invaluable resource which we are fortunate to have in abundance. Exporting water to England would be a long-term ambition which would assist an area with a less abundant water supply than in Scotland,” he said.

“There are undoubtedly significant logistical issues to overcome but we would be willing to consider and discuss any proposals which would link with our ambitions to develop Scotland as a Hydro Nation."

 

It's not April 1st, is it? smile.png

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Where in the article do they suggest that Kielder Water is in Scotland?

Perhaps not directly, but the juxtaposition of the headline and the photo could be a touch misleading.

 

Then again we are talking about the media so what has truth got to do with anything.

 

George ex nb Alton retired

If you're going to spend £14,000,000,000 on getting water from Scotland to the south, how much extra would it cost to include a 6" whiskey main at the same time?

A 6" whisky pipe would keep me supplied, what about the rest of you.

 

(maybe the 6" whiskey pipe from Ireland would do that.smile.png

 

George ex nb Alton retired

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Thanks for the link.

 

The original article did not refer to any previous scheme so I (wrongly) assumed this was a new plan. I was already aware of the Grand Contour Canal proposal(s).

 

The Independent reported in more detail and did refer to previous proposals.

 

sad.png

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If you're going to spend £14,000,000,000 on getting water from Scotland to the south, how much extra would it cost to include a 6" whiskey main at the same time?

 

A 6" whisky pipe would keep me supplied, what about the rest of you.

 

(maybe the 6" whiskey pipe from Ireland would do that.smile.png

 

George ex nb Alton retired

Sounds like three of us would be using that pipe best make it 12", and to help reduce the cost forget the bluddy canal! Edited by Radiomariner
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  • 1 month later...

It's a serious idea which has been kicked around for a long time, but that doesn't mean it'll never happen. The Victorians started digging a Channel Tunnel then gave up, so you never know...

In principle I think it's an idea worth considering, because it offers a lot of different benefits, not just a better water supply for London and the South East. There's its use as a conduit for telecoms cables, and perhaps most of all a wide lock-free canal like that should be a very energy-efficient way to move non-perishable freight for centuries to come. The distribution industry would have a lot of calculations to do to work out just how useful such a canal would be, and we have to hope that someone in government would make a realistic assessment of all the many costs and benefits of such a huge project and end up making the right decision.

 

It may well be that a portion of the overall scheme can be identified as a Phase I to "test the water" as it were. As has been mentioned it may be that the Pennines can supply all the water that's needed. If so, a connection on into Scotland should be seen as an optional extra which could be added later after a separate costing exercise, by which time experience of using the Pennines to London canal would make it easier to judge what is economic.

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Where in the article do they suggest that Kielder Water is in Scotland?

The headline 'trumpets' that the plan is to share 'Scotland's' water with England, not that the plan is to share water in the North of England with the South.

 

The article is supported by a very prominent photograph of Kielder Water. If they wanted to illustrate the article correctly surely it would not have been that hard to find a photo of a Scottish Loch?, it is after all a Scottish Newspaper's web site, I am sure they must have a suitable picture in their archives.

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The headline 'trumpets' that the plan is to share 'Scotland's' water with England, not that the plan is to share water in the North of England with the South.

 

The article is supported by a very prominent photograph of Kielder Water. If they wanted to illustrate the article correctly surely it would not have been that hard to find a photo of a Scottish Loch?, it is after all a Scottish Newspaper's web site, I am sure they must have a suitable picture in their archives.

...or is it that they're hoping no-one down here will realise and they can charge us for Kielder water? laugh.png

 

Edited to add... that wasn't meant to be a reflection on the Scots, far more a reflection on any private company making any kind of proposal for anything tongue.png

Edited by kbarber
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I suppose that northerners will get great satisfaction by peeing in it knowing southerners will be drinking and washing in it. argue.gif

Then when the southerners went on holiday up north, they could pee in it as well - its called getting your own back.

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The plans, devised by one of the world’s biggest architectural and engineering design firms, envisage a new £14 billion waterway running from the Scottish Borders down through Newcastle and Leeds, winding its way along the west coast of England and taking in extra water on its way.

 

 

I wonder how they plan to get all this water from Leeds to the west coast? L&L canal perhaps? And then get it back across to the east side. I wonder if this has been put forward by one of those bods that failed GCSE geography and is assuming that as Scotland is at the top of the map, it must all fall down the page to the south east.

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The plans, devised by one of the world’s biggest architectural and engineering design firms, envisage a new £14 billion waterway running from the Scottish Borders down through Newcastle and Leeds, winding its way along the west coast of England and taking in extra water on its way.

 

 

I wonder how they plan to get all this water from Leeds to the west coast? L&L canal perhaps? And then get it back across to the east side. I wonder if this has been put forward by one of those bods that failed GCSE geography and is assuming that as Scotland is at the top of the map, it must all fall down the page to the south east.

 

The answer to that is that the plan includes a 6 mile tunnel through the Pennines taking the canal from Airedale to Ribblesdale.

I'm guessing that would be responsible for a significant chunk of the £14 billion price tag.

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