Caroline Nokes MP visits Southern Water’s £100m Southampton Link Main project

Caroline Nokes, MP for Romsey and Southampton North, visited Southern Water’s £100m Southampton Link Main on 29 May, a major new pipeline being built to strengthen water resilience in Hampshire. 

The 19km underground pipeline will run between Otterbourne and the Yew Hill reservoir near Winchester.  The project is part of plans to tackle a shortfall of around 200 million litres of water a day in Hampshire during periods of drought through new infrastructure, leak reduction, and water efficiency. 

Caroline Nokes MP for Romsey and Southampton North said: “Without intervention, England faces daily water shortfalls of 5bn litres a day by 2055 – equivalent to 2,000 Olympic-sized pools of water each day. Important projects such as the Southampton Link Main do a crucial job in supporting local infrastructure, building network resilience and safeguarding our rare chalk stream environments.”  

Lawrence Gosden, CEO at Southern Water said: “Water scarcity is a real issue across the south-east but especially so in Hampshire where water sources are increasingly under stress from population growth and climate change. To better protect both water security and our environment, including Hampshire's precious chalk streams, we have to seriously rethink how we move and store water. 

“We’re investing more than £100million in the Southampton Link Main project and once operational, the project will play a vital role in keeping Hampshire’s taps and rivers flowing for future generations.” 

Part of the Southampton Link Main project will include the Yew Hill underground reservoir which is set to hold up to 9 megalitres of water when complete. 

Last year the driest spring for 132 years led to prolonged drought across England. A major report published by the Environment and Climate Change Committee warned that drought would become more frequent as a result of global warming and more reservoirs must also be built to avoid the risk of taps running dry. 

No new reservoirs have been built in England by water companies for more than 30 years. Nine are now planned, the first of which, Havant Thicket in Hampshire, is already under construction.  

Havant Thicket is being built by Portsmouth Water and will be funded by Southern Water, the reservoir will supply extra water to Hampshire in drought conditions, helping reduce pressure on these precious chalk streams. 

The water industry has committed to reducing leakage by 50% by 2050 and the Environment Act 2021 sets a target of reducing domestic water use by 20% by 2038.