 Soon after its completion, cheap coal became available, as railways arrived in the area, and the number of mills using water power steadily declined.This process was exacerbated by the Water Resources Act 1963, under which the Lancashire River Authority levied prohibitive charges for using water to generate power.The use of water power effectively ceased in 1972, with James Cropper becoming the owner of the reservoir, as the paper mills at Burneside were the last user of water from the reservoir.