The Effects of Water Conservation Works on the Regime of Morecambe Bay

A comprehensive study of the feasibility of using Morecambe Bay for water conservation was carried out from January 1967 to the summer of 1971. Teams of experts studied the various engineering, economic, ecological and social aspects which were involved in such a large water storage scheme and reported their findings to the Water Resources Board of the Department of the Environment earlier this year. The Hydraulics Research Station took part in these studies in order to investigate the effects of these water conservation works in Morecambe Bay on tides, currents and the regime of sand in the areas seaward of the proposed works, especially at the seaside resort of Morecambe and the ports of Heysham, Fleetwood and Barrow-in-Furness. For this purpose they carried out field work in the Bay itself and constructed a large tidal model at Wallingford. The paper shows how a full, shore to shore barrage and also a lesser scheme, consisting of separate barrages further landward across the estuaries of the rivers Kent and Leven, will cause serious accretion at Morecambe and in Heysham Lake, the approach channel to Heysham Harbour, whereas a pumped storage scheme, consisting of reservoirs on Cartmel Wharf and on the foreshore at Silverdale will not interfere with the regime of Morecambe Bay. It describes the environment into which the water conservation works will have to be fitted and explains their accretional effects.