CHAPTEE 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 591,336 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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