Booth Wood Reservoir

Booth Wood Reservoir is a man-made upland reservoir that lies north of the M62 motorway and south of the A672 road near to Rishworth and Ripponden in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. The reservoir was approved for construction in 1966[6] and completed in 1971. It supplies water to Wakefield.

Booth Wood Reservoir
Picture of a motorway with a lake and moorland beyond it
The view from Scammonden Bridge looking westwards towards Rishworth Moor. The M62 is in the foreground with Booth Wood Reservoir in the middle of the image.
Relief map of West Yorkshire
Relief map of West Yorkshire
Booth Wood Reservoir
LocationRishworth, Ripponden, West Yorkshire
Coordinates53°38′34.5″N 1°57′35.2″W
TypeReservoir
Catchment area1,570 ha (3,900 acres)
Basin countriesEngland
Managing agencyYorkshire Water[1]
Max. length0.93 miles (1.5 km)
Surface area52 acres (20.9 ha)[2]
Average depth5 feet 3 inches (1.6 m)[3]
Max. depth152 feet (46 m)[4]
Shore length13.1 miles (5.0 km)[5]
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

The reservoir dams the Booth Dean Clough watercourse and takes water directly from the surrounding moorland. It has a plain concrete crest on the dam head which is straight and extends to a length of 1,150 feet (350 m) and a height of 157 feet (48 m).[7]

In 1995 a long dry spell in the summer created a larger than normal abstraction of water from Booth Wood creating the need to transport water into the reservoir as stocks ran very low. Road tankers carrying fresh water were despatched from Selby in North Yorkshire and Kielder Water in Northumberland to bring water for offloading at Booth Wood.[8][9] At the height of the operation, 700 tankers delivered 70,000 tonnes (77,000 tons) of water a day to the reservoir which then fed other reservoirs in West Yorkshire.[10]

On 14 August 2016, the A672 road which runs along the northern edge of the reservoir was closed whilst police searched for a driver and car that had plunged off the road and into the reservoir. The driver was believed to be the only person in the car and the search operation involved helicopters and underwater divers. The search resumed the next day[11][12] when a man's body was recovered.[13]

References
  1. "Yorkshire Water reservoir byelaws" (PDF). Yorkshire Water.com. Yorkshire water. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 December 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  2. "Booth Wood Reservoir". British Lakes (plus Lochs, meres and ponds!). Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  3. "Booth Wood Reservoir". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  4. Atkinson, Neil (20 June 2015). "Pictures and video: Eye in the sky tour of our reservoirs at launch of water campaign". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  5. Yarwood, Sam; Smith, Simon; Rucki, Alexandra (15 August 2016). "Live: Major operation as police hunt for driver and car in M62 reservoir". Manchester Evening News. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  6. "Water Supply". British Waterworks Association. 50: 185. 1968. OCLC 10067616.
  7. "Pre-conference tour" (PDF). British Dams. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 May 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  8. Thornham, Kelly; Rutter, Suzanne (30 July 2005). "Firm says supplies at usual level". Halifax Courier. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  9. Durkin, Hannah (15 April 2006). "Water lot we got". Halifax Courier. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  10. Cathcart, Brian (25 February 1996). "Fat cataclysm". The Independent. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  11. "Underwater search for driver after car plunges into reservoir near Halifax". The Yorkshire Post. 15 August 2016. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  12. "Search after car plunges into Booth Wood Reservoir". BBC News. 15 August 2016. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  13. "Booth Wood Reservoir car search teams find man's body". BBC News. 15 August 2016. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
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