CHAPTER X 
WATER CATCHMENT AREAS IN ENGLAND AND WALES 
THE information given in the following pages is the result 
of queries addressed during 1917 and the present year to 
the town clerks and water engineers of the cities and towns 
which derive their water supply from catchment areas. 
Various publications have been consulted, especially the 
Parliamentary Return as to Water Undertakings in England 
and Wales, 1915, which states on p. xxxi: “ Many under- 
takers rely upon water collected in reservoirs from the 
surface of uncultivated land, and such sources have been 
described in the returns as ‘upland surfaces,’ ‘ gathering 
grounds, or ‘drainage areas. In some cases it is not 
possible to differentiate between supplies derived from up- 
land surfaces and from rivers, streams, lakes, and springs ; 
but it would appear, that 136 local authorities, 11 joint 
authorities, and 20 companies depend upon gathering grounds 
for the whole or part of their supplies.” A summary of the 
figures given in the following pages shows that 127 local 
authorities and 14 companies in England and Wales obtain 
their water supply from 591,356 acres of gathering grounds, 
of which 140,305 acres are owned by 63 local authorities 
and 1 water company. Owing to the stress of war time 
it has not been possible to make the information now given 
as complete as it should be, but the water catchment areas 
that are omitted in the present account are of little import- 
ance. It may be mentioned here that gathering grounds 
are not confined, as is implied in the statement of the 
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