Paul Hickey Senior Director – RAPID and Environmental Planning has written to Thames Water confirming the regulators’ gate one final decision that the Lower Thames to West London Reservoirs Strategic Resource Option should should continue to receive development funding to progress to gate B.
As the solution owner, Thames Water, submitted its gate one reports to RAPID - the Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development - on 30 March 2026 for assessment. RAPID published its draft decision for consultation in July.
Writing to Thames Water CEO Chris Weston, the letter says the final decision is that funding is allowed for the solution to continue through the gated process to gate B, subject to successfully passing through the midpoint review.
The Lower Thames West London Reservoirs Strategic Resource Option is a proposed strategic water resource option being developed by Thames Water to increase resilience in London and the wider South East.
The West London Reservoirs can be divided into two discrete systems which sit north and south of the River Thames. The northern and southern systems are not currently operationally connected, so raw water stored in one part of the system cannot be transferred to the other in the event of a shortfall.
The Lower Thames to West London Reservoirs Strategic Resource Option proposes to develop a new raw water transfer to link the southern and northern reservoirs. The transfer is proposed to be a tunnel, abstracting at Surbiton before running west to the Queen Mary reservoir. The tunnel would also connect to the outlet of the Queen Elizabeth II reservoir to provide a transfer from the southern to the northern reservoirs.
The current design is a preliminary proposal, recognising that further design and assessment work is required during subsequent gates. Future adjustments to the solution design may therefore be necessary.
RAPID has agreed to Thames Water’s requests to amend several milestone dates to reflect Technical Partner onboarding and alignment with the project programme, commenting:
“We consider the proposed programme to provide an appropriate timeframe for the continued development of the scheme and progression through the Major Water Infrastructure gated process.”
Thames Water had proposed a midpoint review submission date of 28 October 2027 and a gate B submission date of 20 November 2029, which RAPID has accepted in its final decision document.
The final decision paper also confirms RAPID’s decision not to amend the allowance of £19.690 million for gate B at this stage – the paper states:
“We will not be amending the allowance of £19.690 million for gate B. Solution owners should provide us with a completed expenditure by AMP template following the onboarding of the Technical Partner to allow for a robust forecast, and in line with the combined gated process, to be considered….
Reason: A robust forecast for gate B will only be completed once the Technical Partner has been onboarded for this project.”
Click here to download the final decision document
ABB has launched AquaMaster+™, a digital platform for smart water network management, designed to help water utilities monitor, analyze and manage their water networks, preventing pipeline water losses and optimizing operations.
Craig Nienaber, Business Development Manager for Safe Access Solutions (SAS) at HUBER Technology, explores why the company is seeing a growing level of interest in its safe access solutions for critical infrastructure providers, including their application in wastewater treatment assets.
Albion Water, the first NAV (New Appointment & Variation) to have been established in1999 and now under the ownership of SDS Water Group, has appointed Andy Holland as its new Director of Business Development.
UK water companies are invited to join an upcoming webinar which will explore how the sector can take indirect potable reuse (IPR) from concept to full-scale operational reality.
Southern Water has released film and images showing what it’s like to walk inside Hampshire’s expanded Yew Hill underground reservoir for the very last time, before it gets filled with water.
Hear how Scottish Water has completed its £235 million Ayrshire Glasgow Resilience Project - customers across Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire will now benefit from a more secure and resilient water supply.
Hear how United Utilities is accelerating its investment to reduce spills from storm overflows across the Northwest.