Important Consultation Information

For your awareness, here’s an update on the planned public consultation and policy proposals within the RSR Programme:

We will be launching a public consultation soon, inviting views on a suite of proposed policy changes to reservoir safety regulation in England and Wales. 

The proposed reforms aim to reduce risks to life, property and the environment, while ensuring regulation remains proportionate and effective. They also seek to address wider sector challenges such as climate change, increasing water demand and the shortage of specialist engineers.

There is no proposal to change the overall structure of reservoir safety management. Owners, engineers and regulators would continue to be the key stakeholders. 

• Reservoir owners would remain responsible for reservoir safety.
• The regulator would continue to regulate owners, not engineers. 
• Engineers would continue to support owners through advice, recommendations and safety measures. 

That said, the proposed reforms are significant, and all stakeholders would see direct impacts, although any changes would not take effect immediately.

The consultation paper will be available on the public-facing webpages for England and Wales, in both English and Welsh. While the launch date is still to be confirmed, the consultation will remain open for at least 8 weeks. A series of engagement events will be held to raise awareness and encourage discussion throughout the consultation period. We hope that you will all get involved.

This first consultation will set out the suite of proposed policy reforms on reservoir safety regulation. Further work will follow the consultation, to develop the proposals in more detail, as well as develop the systems, guidance and training etc. needed for implementation.

The proposed legislative route is to bring reservoir safety under the Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR). A second consultation will be held to explain and seek views on this transition. 

Please note: Should the reforms proceed, they will not take effect immediately or all at once. 

The current reservoir safety regulatory system will continue to apply for some time to come. 

Any reforms will not come into effect until both consultations are complete, new legislation has passed through Parliament (and been brought into force), and regulators confirm the new framework.

Key proposals of the first public consultation include: 

• New hazard classification system: Based on research (available here and here), with safety and proportionality as key drivers. We welcome your thoughts and feedback.
• Updated safety management practices: Tailored to hazard class, with more rigorous requirements for higher-risk reservoirs. Proposals aim to be proportionate to reservoir hazard level - higher classes (1 and 2) would require more detailed and/or frequent safety practices than lower classes (3 and 4).

• Clearer roles and responsibilities for reservoir owners: Owners remain responsible, supported by engineers. Incident and near-miss reporting will be expected.
• Changes to engineer panels: Aimed at improving career progression and attracting new talent to the profession.
• Enhanced regulatory powers: Including civil sanctions to deter non-compliance and unsafe practices.

Responsibilities for reservoir safety regulation are divided between the following three groups: 

1. Reservoir owners and operators are responsible for the safety of their reservoirs. They must appoint engineers from the reservoir engineer panels to inspect their reservoirs and they must act on the engineer’s recommendations. 
2. Reservoir panel engineers are appointed to supervise and inspect the construction and operation of reservoirs.
3. The Environment Agency manages and enforces reservoir safety regulation in England. 

The proposed reforms will not change this overall three-way approach, but they will introduce some changes that will affect all three groups if implemented.

Check out the report for Improving Probable Maximum Precipitation and Probable Maximum Flood for Reservoir Safety on GOV.UK by the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Research and Development Programme

We are currently reviewing the Reservoir Safety research Strategy. We are working with the Reservoir Safety Research Advisory Group to create a strategy which considers current and future pressures on reservoirs. This will consider climate change, ageing infrastructure, and other factors (political, economic, social, technological and environmental) which all impact reservoir safety. This work is due to be completed in 2026.