Kielder Water
| Kielder Reservoir | |
|---|---|
Kielder Dam in 2007
|
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| Location | Northumberland |
| Coordinates | 55°11′N 2°30′W / 55.183°N 2.500°WCoordinates: 55°11′N 2°30′W / 55.183°N 2.500°W |
| Lake type | reservoir |
| Primary inflows | River North Tyne, Kielder Burn, Lewis Burn |
| Primary outflows | River North Tyne |
| Basin countries | England |
| Managing agency | Northumbrian Water |
| Built | 1975–1981 |
| First flooded | 1982 |
| Max. length | 5.65 miles (9.09 km) |
| Max. width | 2 miles (3.2 km) |
| Surface area | 10.86 square kilometres (2,680 acres) |
| Water volume | 200 billion litres (44×109 imp gal) |
| Shore length1 | 27.5 mi (44.3 km) |
| Surface elevation | 184 m (604 ft) |
| Islands | 1 |
| Sections/sub-basins | Bakethin Reservoir |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Kielder Water is a large man-made reservoir in Northumberland in North East England. It is the largest artificial lake in the United Kingdom by capacity of water and it is surrounded by Kielder Forest, the biggest man-made woodland in Europe. The scheme was planned in the late 1960s to satisfy an expected rise in demand for water to support a booming UK industrial economy. But the decline of traditional heavy industry, together with more water-efficient industrial processes and better control of water supply leakage, served to undermine the original justification for the reservoir and many came to criticise the government-funded project as a white elephant.
Kielder Water is owned by Northumbrian Water, and holds 200 billion litres (44 billion gallons, or 0.2 cubic km), making it the largest artificial reservoir in the UK by capacity (Rutland Water is the largest by surface area). It has a 27.5-mile (44.3 km) shoreline, and is 39.7 km (24.6 miles) from the sea.
After the scheme was approved by Parliament in 1974, work to build the reservoir and the dam at the hamlet of Yarrow in the Kielder Valley began in 1975. The reservoir and dam was designed for Northumbrian Water by consulting engineers Babtie, Shaw and Morton. with Sir Frederick Gibberd and Partners as consulting architect. Earth moving and infrastructure construction was undertaken in a joint venture with AMEC and Balfour Beatty.
The design meant the loss of numerous farms and a school. The former permanent way of the Border Counties Railway was also taken away through the development of the reservoir.
Work was completed in 1981. Elizabeth II officially opened the project the following year. The valley took a further two years to fill with water completely.
Kielder Water is also the site of England's largest hydro electric plant. It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 26 May 1982 and is owned by Northumbrian Water. In December 2005, RWE Npower Renewables bought the rights to operate the plant and sell the electricity generated by it, with a contract lasting until 2025. Following the takeover, the turbines were refurbished in 2005–2006, which increased the efficiency of the electricity generation. Controls were also updated, meaning that the plant can be operated from Dolgarrog in Wales.
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