British Dam Society (BDS) Conference at Keele University

We attended the recent British Dam Society Biennial Conference in September 2026, which provided a valuable opportunity to engage with reservoir engineers and related industry professionals. The three-day event included presentations, workshops and site visits, offering insight into current priorities, challenges and developments across the reservoir safety sector.

Key themes relevant to the Reservoir Safety Reform Programme included:

• a strong emphasis on proportionate, risk-based regulation;
• recognition of the importance of collaboration across the sector to improve resilience and reservoir safety; and
• interest in the new Research Strategy and opportunities for future collaborative research.

Classification and Safety Management System workshop

On the second day of the conference, we delivered a workshop on hazard classification and the proposed safety management system.

The session generated constructive discussion on a range of topics, including proportionality, costs and benefits, liability, reservoir owner responsibilities, and flood plans. The feedback and discussions provided valuable insight into stakeholder perspectives, helping to inform the ongoing development of the reform programme.

You can view the workshop slides here.