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Entry TypeCorporate
Corporate NameDerwent Valley Water Board
Dates1899-1974
BiographyDue to concerns about meeting demand for water in the growing cities of the East Midlands and disputes between these cities over access to the waters of the upper River Derwent, the Derwent Valley Water Board was formed under the Derwent Valley Water Act 1899. This was to enable the construction of reservoirs in the Upper Derwent Valley in the Derbyshire Peak District, in order to supply Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Sheffield and parts of Derbyshire. Construction costs were apportioned in relation to the proportion of water that each corporation or authority had been allocated under the 1899 Act and membership of the Board reflected this arrangement.
Howden Reservoir was officially opened in 1912 and Derwent Reservoir was brought into use in 1916. Water from the reservoirs passed through filters constructed at nearby Bamford and was transported via aqueducts and pipelines, which divided at Ambergate, Derbyshire, into the Nottingham and the Derby (and Leicester) supplies. A second instalment of work by the Board involved diverting water from the Rivers Ashop and Alport into the Derwent Reservoir, with the construction of a filtration plant at Yorkshire Bridge and duplication of pipeline along various sections of the aqueduct. Construction of Ladybower Reservoir formed the third instalment, with work starting on Lady Bower Dam in 1935 and the official opening of the reservoir taking place in 1945. Work began on improvements to the filtration and treatment of the water in 1965, and due to further demand increases, Church Wilne storage reservoir and treatment works in Nottinghamshire opened in 1972, for water extracted from the Lower Derwent River. The Board was dissolved under the Water Act, 1973 and responsibility passed to the newly created Severn Trent Water Authority in 1974.
Authorised Form of NameDerwent Valley Water Board; 1899-1974

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