Sir David Attenborough paid a flying visit to the reserve on Friday 18 April 18 and dug the first turf to mark the start of work on a £115 million major engineering scheme which will balance the demands of water resource management and the environment.

The Rutland Project will enable Anglian Water to meet increased demand for water in future years by taking up to 90 million extra litres per day from Rutland Water. What makes this project unique is the creation of new wetland areas and lagoons near Egleton which will have independent water levels, to ensure that the wildlife is not disturbed if the water level in the main body of the reservoir falls.
(See map below.)

Sir David Attenborough, Patron of Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust

The heron was sculpted for Anglian Water from recycled shopping trolleys by Ptolemy Elrington as part of their Rivercare Project

It is this commitment to the environment which Sir David Attenborough, Patron of the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, was happy to endorse. He said:

Just occasionally there is great news and this is one of those times. This is a marvellous example of how a whole community works together to produce something that benefits the community and the natural world. I have a huge feeling of optimism and joy that there is something happening in a county that I am very fond of. It’s a real joy to be here, with something positive happening: something good and something advancing.

Tim Appleton, the Reserve Manager, added:

We are absolutely delighted that Sir David helped us mark the start of work on this project. Everyone has worked hard to ensure that wildlife, which is at the heart of Rutland Water, has been at the forefront of the planning process.

Sir David went on to unveil the sculpture on the left and later visited the Trust’s newly refurbished Lyndon Visitor Centre to meet the Osprey Project team and see the just-opened Wildlife and Weather exhibition. Please click here for full details.

The new wetland areas are shown on this map.

Work has started on Lagoon B, the green-edged area to the north of Egleton. This will be a very large area of shallow water to the west of the existing Lagoon 3. Please click here to see the preliminary work carried out by the Reserve's staff and volunteers during the winter.

In 2009 a bund across the Fish Ponds area will be built.

2010 is the scheduled construction date for the complex of smaller lagoons to the west of Lax Hill and also large bunds enclosing Manton and Heron Bays.

There are more details of why this is being done on the Anglian Water website