Plans for a 14million-gallon reservoir have been submitted for a farm in Gedney Marsh.
The application is for a site north of Gable End Farm on Marsh Road and has been submitted by Jepco Ltd.
The company farms around 2,248 acres (910 hectares) and had a previous application to replace an existing reservoir approved.
But this year’s long hot summer and potential issues in the future mean the application has been replaced by the new three metre-deep reservoir with a total surface area of 21,596sqm.
“With changing weather patterns there is pressure on the Environment Agency to more effectively manage the country’s water resources, particularly during the summer months,” says a report accompanying the application to South Holland District Council.
“The weather this summer has reinforced the importance of having sufficient on-farm reservoir capacity and the proposal is now to construct a large reservoir. A number of reservoirs have been constructed since 2012 but additional capacity is still required.”
Jepco farms predominantly in the area around Sutton Bridge and Holbeach.
The application shows that the proposed reservoir would have 2.5m of bank above the current ground level and will be 169m long and 158m wide.
The total volume is 14,434,860 gallons and of thant 8.2m would be above ground level. It is the equivalent of 63.6m litres and Olympic-size swimming pool holds around 2.5m litres.
The soil excavated will be used to create the banks surrounding the reservoir –around 27,972 cubic metres.
“Prior approval should be granted for the proposed reservoir so as to enable Jepco to provide consistent yields and quality so that they can remain competitive against other growing areas in the country and assist in future proofing the business from the effects of climate change,” the report concludes.
