| Kielder Reservoir | |
|---|---|
 Kielder Dam in 2007 | |
  Kielder Reservoir | |
| Location | Northumberland |
| Coordinates | 55°11′N 2°30′W / 55.183°N 2.500°W |
| Lake type | reservoir |
| Primary inflows | River North Tyne, Kielder Burn, Lewis Burn |
| Primary outflows | River North Tyne |
| Basin countries | England |
| Managing agency | Northumbrian Water |
| Built | 1975–1981 |
| First flooded | 1982 |
| Max. length | 5.65 miles (9.09 km) |
| Max. width | 2 miles (3.2 km) |
| Surface area | 10.86 square kilometres (2,680 acres) |
| Water volume | 200 billion litres (44×109 imp gal) |
| Shore length1 | 27.5 mi (44.3 km) |
| Surface elevation | 184 m (604 ft) |
| Islands | 1 |
| Sections/sub-basins | Bakethin Reservoir |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Kielder Water is a large man-made reservoir in Northumberland in North East England. It is the largest artificial lake in the United Kingdom by capacity of water and it is surrounded by Kielder Forest, one of the biggest man-made woodlands in Europe. The scheme was planned in the late 1960s to satisfy an expected rise in demand for water to support a booming UK industrial economy. But the decline of traditional heavy industry, together with more water-efficient industrial processes and better control of water supply leakage, served to undermine the original justification for the reservoir and the government-funded project has been criticised as a white elephant.[1]
Kielder Water is owned by Northumbrian Water, and holds 200 billion litres (44 billion gallons, or 0.2 cubic km), making it the largest artificial reservoir in the UK by capacity (Rutland Water is the largest by surface area). It has a 27.5-mile (44.3 km) shoreline, is 24.6 miles (39.6 km) from the sea,[2] and has a maximum depth of 52 metres (170 ft).
- ^ "Parliamentary Business". Hansard. 30 July 2009.
- ^ "Kielder Water". British Lakes. Archived from the original on 15 January 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.