Covenham Reservoir, located in

East Lindsey East Lindsey is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Lincolnshire, England. Its council is based in Horncastle and the largest town is Skegness. Other towns include Alford, Lincolnshire, Alford, Burgh le Marsh, Coningsby, L ...

is a 200-acre reservoir and treatment works constructed between 1963 and 1978 by W. & C. French. The reservoir was built next to the

Louth Navigation The Louth Navigation was a canalisation of the River Lud. It ran for from Louth in Lincolnshire, England, to Tetney Haven, at the mouth of the Humber. It was authorised by act of Parliament in 1763 and completed in 1770, under the supervi ...

canal and acts as a pumped storage reservoir from the canal, and can be supplemented by transfer schemes from Great Eau and Long Eau rivers. Opened in 1972 by Princess Alexandra, the reservoir was subject to some controversy as it was to be built on high grade agricultural land. The reservoir is approximately 1 km by 1 km in size and the depth is approximately 20m. Remedial works concerning a slip (movement) in the north embankment were undertaken at some point. The reservoir is situated between

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town in Lincolnshire, England with a population of 86,138 (as of 2021). It is located near the mouth on the south bank of the Humber that flows to the North Sea. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes dir ...

and

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia ** Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

. The reservoir hosts a watersports centre offering sailing, waterskiing and diving with a perimeter walkway open to the public. Built on the Lincolnshire coastal marsh, the sides of the reservoir offer views over surrounding farmland towards Grimsby, to the north, the coast, Louth and the

Lincolnshire Wolds The Lincolnshire Wolds which also includes the Lincolnshire Wolds National Landscape are a range of low hills in the county of Lincolnshire, England which runs roughly parallel with the North Sea coast, from the Humber Estuary just west of the t ...

to the west. The reservoir acts as storage for times of low aquifer recharge in the area, and can be used to prevent saline intrusion into the Lincolnshire chalk aquifer which is the primary source of water in East Lincolnshire. The return of treated effluent from Louth to the Louth Canal, and Great Eau transfer scheme also help to maintain the water levels of the reservoir in this relatively dry region of the UK. The reservoir is constructed of walls all around, raised 20m above the low lying Lincolnshire marsh. The structure is concrete lined, which prevents growth of marginal plants, however this does not prevent the reservoir attracting varied waterfowl and other birds. The reservoir primarily serves the water needs of the Grimsby and

Cleethorpes Cleethorpes () is a seaside town on the estuary of the Humber in North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England with a population of 29,678 in 2021. It has been permanently occupied since the 6th century, with fishing as its original industry ...

conurbation, as well as being a supply feed for Louth,

Mablethorpe Mablethorpe is a seaside town in the civil parish of Mablethorpe and Sutton, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.OS Explorer map 283:Louth and Mablethorpe: (1:25 000): In 1961 the civil parish had a population of 3,611. On 1 Ap ...

and

Skegness Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 21,128 as of 2021 ...

. In 2012 a £40 million pipeline linking the reservoir to the town of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

in the south of the county began, and is expected to be capable of transferring 26 million litres of water a day.

References

{{authority control Reservoirs in Lincolnshire