As canals became less essential for transport of goods during the mid-20th century, the reservoir diversified and became a popular public amenity with activities such as water-skiing, sailing, wakeboarding and cycling.

[4] A site in the Crane Brook Valley was selected to be dammed to create a reservoir which would provide water to the new stretch of canal.

A feeder channel to supply water to the canal was cut through from the eastern dam to the top of the locks at Ogley Hay 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the south east.

The reservoir opened on 8 May 1797, however in June 1799 the eastern dam burst releasing a flood wave downstream along the Crane Brook Valley towards Shenstone, about 4.5 miles to the south east.

A watch house was built by the canal company with a full-time watchman to safeguard against any similar incidents in the future.

[5] During the mid-19th century the coal deposits beneath the reservoir and the surrounding area began to be mined on a large scale due to the Industrial Revolution.

After the opening of the South Staffordshire Railway Line in 1849 rail infrastructure serving the collieries around the reservoir began to expand.

This line, now used by Chasewater Railway, involved the building of a causeway across the Crane Brook valley at the western end of the reservoir.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the eastern dam was raised, with this a new hexagonal valve house and weir was built and the capacity of the reservoir was increased.

The western dam stretches from approximately 300 metres (980 ft) north of Brownhills West station to Norton East Road.

The dam was constructed between 1796 and 1797 with excavated materials from the reservoir bed, however it was extended northwards in the 1890s to counteract the settlement of the land due to mining subsidence.

The reservoir has a capacity of 4,400,000m3 (4.4 billion litres) and a surface area of 1.08 km2 (270 acres) with a maximum water depth of 11.3 metres (37 ft) near its eastern end.

The Chasewater habitat supports several rare plant and animal species including:[9] floating water-plantain (Luronium natans), round-leaved wintergreen (Pyrola rotundifolia), the carnivorous round-leaved sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), adder's tongue (Ophioglossum), black spleenwort (Asplenium adiantum-nigrum), goldeneye duck (Bucephala) and tufted duck (Aythya fuligula) The surrounding area is designated as a country park.

In June 2019, a parkrun (a free, weekly timed 5 km run/walk) event started at Chasewater, taking place every Saturday morning at 9am.

[11] The water level in the reservoir was lowered by 8 metres (26 ft) from February to April in 2010, in order for the works to be carried out on the eastern dam.

To reduce the risk of internal erosion filters were installed at the downstream toe of the embankment to control and monitor seepage through the dam.

[13] When the water was lowered, two suspected bombs were discovered on the reservoir bed, these were later determined to be mortar rounds dating from the Second World War.