The Derwent Valley Water Board was constituted by Act of Parliament in 1899 to supply the cities of

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

, Leicester,

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

and

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

, and the county of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, with water impounded by a series of reservoirs along the upper reaches of the River Derwent in the

Peak District The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, where moorla ...

. The Board's works included the following reservoirs: *

Howden Howden () is a market and minster town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of York to the north of the M62, on the A614 road about south-east of York and north of Goole, which lies across the ...

, capacity , formed by a masonry dam high and long. * Derwent, capacity , formed by a masonry dam high and long. *

Ladybower Ladybower Reservoir is a large Y-shaped, artificial reservoir, the lowest of three in the Upper Derwent Valley in Derbyshire, England. The River Ashop flows into the reservoir from the west; the River Derwent flows south, initially through How ...

, capacity , formed by an earth embankment high and long. The board was abolished in 1974 under the terms of the

Water Act 1973 The Water Act 1973 (1973 c.37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reorganised the water, sewage and river management industry in England and Wales. Water supply and sewage disposal were removed from local authority control, ...

and responsibility for the works was transferred to the new Severn Trent Water Authority.

References

* The Derwent Valley Water Board's Undertaking (1972) * Water Act 1973 (1973 c.37) * https://archive.org/stream/engineeringwonde03willuoft/engineeringwonde03willuoft_djvu.txt * http://apps.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/onlinelists/GB0288%20DL76.pdf Utilities of the United Kingdom {{UK-company-stub