Anglian Water and Cambridge Water have opened a public consultation on plans for a major new pipeline intended to bolster supplies to Cambridge and surrounding areas.

The proposed “interconnector” would carry water from Grafham Reservoir to the Rede area of Suffolk and west Cambridgeshire. The overall scheme envisages a roughly 70km strategic pipeline delivered in stages, with an initial 28km section running from Grafham to Cambridge being put forward first. The first is a transfer of water from Anglian Water’s Grafham reservoir, which will potentially deliver 26M litres of water a day into Cambridge Water’s region.

A later phase would include a spur to feed the city itself and a further extension into Suffolk, delivered solely by Anglian Water.

The consultation is for the initial 28km section. It started on 27 October and runs to 21 December 2025. It shows proposed routes and timetables and give residents an opportunity to question the project team before any formal planning application is submitted. Anglian Water and Cambridge Water say they will hold a series of events and make detailed maps, timelines and FAQs available to local communities.

Delivery of the Anglian Water elements of the pipeline will be led by the Strategic Pipeline Alliance (SPA), a consortium made up of contractors Costain, Farrans, Jacobs and Mott MacDonald Bentley, working alongside Cambridge Water.

The Cambridge-to-Rede section is due to be taken forward by Anglian Water at a later date. Ofwat accepted a £266M allowance in the utility company’s PR24 determination for the full 70km scheme, though this does not include Cambridge Water’s contribution for the first section.

Local reaction to the announcement is likely to focus on route choice, environmental impacts and disruption during construction. Large-diameter trunk mains can affect farmland, habitats and transport routes, so the consultation will be closely watched by parish councils, landowners and conservation groups keen to see detailed environmental assessments and mitigation measures.

The scheme sits against a backdrop of rising demand in the Cambridge and wider East of England area driven by population growth and new housing developments, and a series of dry winters that have renewed debate about long-term water security across England. Water companies are under increasing regulatory pressure to reduce the risk of shortages while meeting environmental obligations, and major interconnectors and new storage have become central elements of regional strategies to balance supply and demand.

If the proposals progress, the project will require planning consents and environmental approvals before construction can begin. The staged approach means that communities along the initial Grafham–Cambridge route will be the first to see detailed plans and potential impacts.

Anglian Water is also advancing other supply resilience work in the region. The Grafham–Cambridge interconnector forms part of its capital investment plans for the 2025–30 regulatory period (AMP8), which include new reservoirs and desalination capacity to tackle the long-term challenge of securing supply in the East of England – widely regarded as one of the driest parts of the country. The company is concurrently consulting on a separate reservoir proposal in the Cambridgeshire Fens until 10 December 2025.

Anglian Water director of water services Ian Rule said: “After the driest spring and summer since 1976, we’re seeing the harsh impacts of climate change on our region first-hand. In addition, the East of England is one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, with 720,000 new residents expected by 2043. We’re acting now to ensure that, together with Cambridge Water, we can supply our region with clean, reliable water and strengthen local resilience to reduce the number of homes and businesses that rely on a single water source.”

Cambridge Water strategy and regulation director Caroline Cooper said: “This project has the potential to deliver 26M litres of water into our region every day. This much-needed interconnector will help us unlock a more sustainable future and ensure we continue to deliver a reliable water supply to our customers, enable the area’s growth ambition, relieve the pressure of abstraction on our underground aquifers, and retain more water for the environment and our local chalk streams.”

Anglian Water MD major infrastructure delivery Andy Alder said: “This is a pivotal project for our AMP8 infrastructure delivery in securing the supply of water in Cambridge, but it must be delivered in the right way. That includes ensuring that residents along the route have an opportunity to learn about the work we’re proposing and share their views during the planning process. We welcome contributions and feedback.

“As well as our communities, our environment is at the forefront of this project, too. We have already undertaken ecological surveys and adapted our plans to protect the wildlife along the route. Importantly, we’re making plans to move water using a new interconnecting pipeline to reduce the amount of water we need to take from the environment to supply customers’ taps in Cambridgeshire.”

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