Since 1948 Britain has seen a shift of emphasis from upland to lowland sites for reservoir construction. Some have been built in arable farming areas with rolling topography. Since river valleys tend to be well populated, these reservoirs are sited outside the valleys and supplied by pumping. Water is released to maintain river flows and abstracted near to the point of supply. There are no public health restrictions on the use of pumpï¾storage and compensation reservoirs but planning authorities and local residents have generally opposed intensive recreational development in rural areas. Demand for water recreation is however great, and the permitted recreational facilities, usually fishing, sailing and walking, are used to capacity.
