| Administrative History | The Derwent Valley Water Board was established in 1899 by Act of Parliament to develop the water resources of the upper Derwent Valley and to supply water to the cities of Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield and the county borough of Derby and also, under certain conditions, to local authorities in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. It resulted from various competing proposals to extract water from the area which were being promoted by the three cities and Derby individually. The Board proceeded to construct in sequence the Howden, Derwent and finally Ladybower Reservoirs, supplemented by river diversion schemes, together with associated pumping stations, filtration plant and pipelines. The Board was only a bulk supplier to distribution authorities; it was not permitted to provide water directly to individual customers. The Board was taken over by the Severn Trent Water Authority in 1974. |