Dee Regulation Scheme
Coordinates: 53°16′34″N 3°08′49″W / 53.276°N 3.147°W The River Dee regulation scheme is a system of flow balancing and quality management along the River Dee managed by a consortium of the three largest water companies licensed to take water from the river, United Utilities, Welsh Water and Dee Valley Water; together with the regulator, Natural Resources Wales.
The water demands of North West England including Liverpool and the Wirral far exceed the locally available sources of clean water. The River Dee runs mainly in North Wales before flowing through Chester, England, and then returning to Wales in a man-made channel constructed to gain land from the Dee Estuary. The Dee is the largest relatively clean river near to the North West conurbation and without water from the Dee much of Liverpool would be without water. However, the natural flow of the River Dee during most summers is insufficient to sustain any significant abstractions. To overcome this problem, a series of reservoirs have been constructed to store the excess water available in the winter time and release it back into the River Dee during the drier months.
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