According to Mix 96, an HS2 press report says that they will be investigating ground water near Wendover to understand the movement of ground and surface water in the area. It’s likely that these tests are looking at the effects of HS2 on the Chilterns aquifer that supplies water to parts of Buckinghamshire.
But with HS2 due for Royal Assent, it seems rather late in the day for this.
Murray Cook from the Wendover HS2 action group told Mix 96
“If we look at Coombe Hill, there is a major aquifer which is just underneath the area. We think that on an average day there’s 14 million litres of water that comes off the hill – that’s about 16 Olympic swimming pools worth.
“The water feeds into the Grand Union Canal, down the Wendover arm, and also feeds the reservoir at Weston Turville.
“HS2 were going to make a cutting across the aquifer, which would release a lot of water. Since we pointed this out, HS2 installed 27 wells in the area.
“I think they’re starting to realise they have a very major problem. If they don’t deal with the water coming out of the aquifer, they’ll have a river running down their railway line instead of going into the reservoir or canal.”
Of course this is only one place where what’s going on underground is likely to have more effect than HS2 have realised – such as the salt mine areas in Cheshire.