Reservoir Safety Reform Programme
We are developing and delivering the Reservoir Safety Reform Programme, in response to the recommendations set out in the Independent Reservoir Safety Review Report(External link).
Below you will find lots of background information regarding the Safety Reform Programme. You can also read our latest updates at the bottom of this page, plus we would like to know more about who is interested in this work, so have a short poll we would like you to complete. Both the latest news and the poll can be found here!
The Reservoir Safety Reform Programme will be delivered in a phased way over several years, by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Environment Agency (EA) along with the Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales (NRW).
Reservoir safety is about ensuring the physical structure of a reservoir, its dams and embankments are safe. The Toddbrook incident in 2019, along with the increasing demands on water supply, and the impacts of climate change, are all reasons to re-evaluate how we regulate reservoir safety. More importantly, around 2.6 million people in England, are potentially at risk from reservoir dams failing and causing flooding which could endanger life.
Programme vision & aims
Our vision is to create a safety regime for reservoir dams in England which protects our communities, by making us ready for and resilient to climate change – today, tomorrow and the future. We will do this by:
Strengthening the roles and responsibilities for reservoir owners, operators, engineers, and the regulator (EA).
Improving the safety practice and culture, through a programme of continuous development of skills, capacity and training across the reservoir community.
Modernising legislation and safety management practice to ensure a robust and proportionate safety regime that is fit for the future.
Engaging with stakeholders to help shape our approach and deliver reforms.
The key drivers for improving the reservoir safety system are:
The Toddbrook incident and the Independent Reservoir Safety Review(External link).
Climate change - which is increasing the pressures on reservoir infrastructure and demand for reservoirs and water resources.
The need to update the 1975 Reservoirs Act to a more, proportionate flexible regime, which is in line with safety management practices in other sectors and countries.
Concerns about the limited numbers of reservoir engineers and the increasing demand for specialist engineers in future.
Devolved administrations
On 4 November 2024, the Deputy First Minister for Wales confirmed the Welsh Government’s intention to join the Reservoir Safety Reform Programme and implement the reforms across Wales. The intention is outlined in a Ministerial statement(External link). To find out more about the Reservoir Safety Reform Programme in Wales, visit their information page.
The devolved administrations for Scotland and Northern Ireland are responsible for any reforms in their countries. We are working closely with all the devolved administrations to share knowledge and help ensure a coherent approach to reservoir regulation across the UK.
Key reforms
Overall roles and responsibilities
Responsibilities for reservoir safety regulation are divided between the following three communities, which together ensure almost 2.6 million people in England, who live near reservoirs, are not put at any unnecessary risk of flooding, which could endanger life:
- Reservoir owners and
operators, who are responsible for the safety of their reservoirs. They must appoint engineers from the reservoir panels of engineers to inspect their reservoirs and they must act on the engineer’s recommendations. - Reservoir panel engineers, who are appointed to supervise and inspect reservoir construction and operation.
- The Environment Agency manages and enforces reservoir safety regulation in England.
The reform programme aims will not change this overall three way approach, but will mean some changes for all of these communities.
Engagement and programme timeline
Working with single reservoir owners
Following our telephone survey with single reservoir owners in September, we have successfully conducted two webinars that have helped shaped the Reservoir Safety Programme (RSP). The first webinar introduced the RSR Programme, and the second explored the lessons learned from incidents. Both workshops were highly successful, creating open discussions and active participation and engagement from stakeholders.
Our next workshop will focus on Reservoir Safety Management Plans (RSMP) and is scheduled for early March. The purpose of this workshop will be to influence and provide comments on proposals for RSMP’s (including a new approach to records and information management) before these go through public consultation and then into legislation.
If you are a single reservoir owner and would like to participate in these workshops, please contact Sara Dickinson at sara.dickinson@environment-agency.gov.uk(External link) to be added to our database of volunteers.
On-going engagement
We are engaging regularly with the industry and professional bodies such as Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), National Farmers Union (NFU), Association of Drainage Authorities (ADA) etc. We encourage you to share your views with your representative body so that they can represent your interests in shaping the reforms.
Timeline for changes
The programme will be delivered over several years through new guidance and legislation. Timings are provisional and may change as the programme progresses.
