HELP STOP UNITED UTILITIES TRASHING CRUMMOCK WATER’S UNIQUE BEAUTY and ECOLOGY!

WORLD HERITAGE UNESCO BEAUTY SPOT IS UNDER THREAT

The unique beauty of Crummock Water in the northwest Lake District is threatened by United Utilities who plan to reduce its level by 4.6 feet by removing the 100-year-old weir. This would take the lake below the volume where United Utilities retains responsibility for it under the Reservoirs Act (1975), releasing them from responsibility and future liability. There’s a swell of opposition building from locals and visitors about this plan which United Utilities state would reduce the lake's volume by 1.9 million cubic metres, a historical low, damaging its ecology and beauty for decades.

DEADLINE: comments need to be made to the Lake District National Park Planning Portal - useful links to object below! 

GREEN WASH ON A GRAND SCALE – Stop the Drop!

United Utilities boasts of ‘naturalising’ the lake and returning it to its previous level. It talks of ‘gains’ for the salmon, planting trees, naturalising the river and becks. Sounds wonderful doesn’t it? What they don’t mention is the fact that the level of Crummock Water has never dropped more than 2 feet since the end of the Ice Age, certainly not the 4.6 feet they suggest. Old photos and maps, and even United Utilities sponsored research all bear this out. Without the glacial moraine removed in building the weir, they would now be draining the lake by so much more.

ENVIRONMENTAL VANDALISM – WHAT WILL THIS MEAN FOR NATURE?

• Lowering the lake will devastate its natural beauty, create vast mudflats, and destroy habitats that will take decades to recover. The existing shoreline which supports wildlife, as well as recreation and tourism, would be lost. Bird populations that rely on stable water levels for nesting and feeding will be disrupted. Edge habitats such as spawning gravels that support wildlife, will disappear.
• As water levels fall, previously protected areas will become vulnerable to disturbance and predation. The shallow lake-adapted roots of surrounding trees would be left high and dry. The whole ecosystem of the lake will be profoundly disrupted by the rapid drop in water level.
• Valuable mature trees in ancient Lanthwaite wood and hedgerows will be felled for this work. Nearby footpaths will be closed to the public for a year or more, and the north end of the lake and nearby fields will turn into an ugly, noisy building compound. Lorries will be driving through small lanes and local villages to take away the concrete from the weir and wave wall for more than a year increasing congestion and pollution.

‘FLOOD RISKS’ DOWNSTREAM? Environment Agency's concerns.

The Environment Agency have officially stated (in a letter dated April 15) ‘we are not satisfied that the development would be safe, without increasing flood risk elsewhere.’ See Cockermouth flood (2009). 

TOURISM IMPACTS

Tourism, the life blood of the area, would be profoundly affected. This is a popular lake for swimmers, walkers, paddle boarders, photographers and nature lovers. Lowering the water level by 4.5ft would expose a wide swathe of rocks, sunken branches, debris and mud for swimmers and wildlife to cross, replacing the gently shelving gravel beaches that are so popular.

OTHER SOLUTIONS?

If the level of the lake has to revert to its historical level of 2 feet lower, the flow of water from the lake could still be naturalised without removing the whole weir (in a landscaping option called 'assisted natural recovery'). Likewise the ‘rewiggling’ of the River Cocker and Park Beck do not depend on removing the weir. Indeed United Utilities’ own consultants put forward naturalising the weir in this way as their highest scoring option.

 THE UK NEEDS MORE RESERVOIRS IN TIME OF CLIMATE DROUGHT.

United Utilities may not want Crummock's water anymore, but we may need this water badly in the future given the climate crisis. In 2023, the government's official National Infrastructure Commission concluded that the UK needs more reservoirs – with far more droughts predicted, even in the Lake District.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

• Comments/objections need to be made to the Lake District National Park Planning portal. All planning documents here too.  https://planning.agileapplications.co.uk/ldnpa/application-details/83866 Or simply email planning@lakedistrict.gov.uk quoting application 7/2025/2052
• Contact local MP, Markus Campbell Savours markus.campbellsavours.mp@parliament.uk

Join the Facebook page, Protect Crummock Water 

USEFUL RESOURCES

https://friendsofcrummock.org/

QR code to planning app with all documents about the plan here: