Reservoir Safety: Reforming the Safety Regime and Modernising Legislation for England

George Eustice Excerpts

Wednesday 20th July 2022 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (George Eustice)]

Reservoirs play a vital role in safeguarding our water supply, by storing water that falls in the wetter part of the year, to ensure continuity of supply when it is dry. But storing large volumes of water is not without risk—in August 2019 parts of the spillway at Toddbrook reservoir collapsed following significant heavy rainfall and around 1,500 local people were temporarily evacuated while the reservoir was made safe. More than 17,000 were potentially at risk of flooding from the reservoir dam being breached. Fortunately, incidents such as this are very rare. We have a strong record of reservoir safety and compliance with our safety regulations is good.



We cannot however be complacent. The number of reservoirs in England is growing by an average of 15 to 20 per year, adding resource pressures for already stretched panels of engineers. Reservoir assets are ageing, which increases risks where investment is limited. In addition, the more extreme periods of drier and wetter weather expected as a result of climate change will place increasing stresses on reservoir infrastructure.



Following Toddbrook, Professor David Balmforth’s independent review considered whether the regulation of reservoirs, which protects more than 2.2 million households and properties in England, remains effective and robust in securing the ongoing safety of this critical infrastructure. The review identified common examples of poor practice in the work of reservoir safety engineers and concluded that the Reservoirs Act 1975 does not effectively support modern, risk-based safety practices. It recommended:



a new risk/hazard based safety regime, where safety requirements are proportionate to risks;

improving safety management practice by reservoir owners;

improving inspection and supervision by reservoir engineers; and

strengthening the regulator’s role.

I am therefore confirming today that the Government have accepted Professor Balmforth’s recommendations and will carry out reform of the reservoir safety regime and modernisation of the Reservoirs Act 1975. DEFRA and the regulator—the Environment Agency—will commence a programme of work now, with a view to consultation in 2023-24. Once the consultation has concluded, the Government will then work to develop legislative proposals. The Government would then legislate when parliamentary time allows.



The Government considers that the review has made a strong case for improving safety practice, strengthening roles and responsibilities for owners, engineers, and the regulator, and for modernising the legal framework.



The following principles will be applied to shape and guide the reforms. We will aim to:



Reduce risk to life as low as reasonably practical.

Take early action to address risks where possible.

Fairly apportion costs for risk management with reservoir owners.

Take a proportionate, risk-based and customer-friendly approach.

The Government have been considering whether small raised reservoirs, which are between 10,000m³ and 25,000m³ in volume and are currently unregulated, should be brought under the scope of the Reservoirs Act 1975. We are minded that, subject to a consultation, such reservoirs should be regulated in future and will develop proposals as part of the reform of the safety regime. Research suggests that there are around 500 small raised reservoirs which pose risks for local communities if the structures were to fail. At least five incidents a year occur where emergency measures are needed to prevent dams and embankments from breaching or failing which indicates a strong need to regulate such reservoirs to ensure public safety. During 2022-23 the Environment Agency plans to introduce a free registration scheme for owners of small raised reservoirs, which will collect data about these reservoirs and help inform a proportionate approach to regulation.



The reform programme will be taken forward collaboratively, with owners and engineers being involved in shaping the details. It will include:



Reforms that can be done through existing powers, secondary legislation, guidance, training and codes of practice during 2022-23 and 2023-24, including:

improving enforcement options and flexibility using civil sanctions;

introducing review of engineers’ reports by the Environment Agency;

developing proposals for a proportionate charging scheme to improve recovery of regulatory costs; and

introducing a free registration scheme for owners of small raised reservoirs during 2022-23.



Preparing for modernising the Reservoirs Act 1975 with a view to consulting on proposals during 2023-24, including:

developing a new risk/hazard classification and how it could operate;

developing proposals to make the future supply of reservoir engineers more sustainable;

developing proposals for regulating small raised reservoirs within the new safety regime, for consultation.



This will build on actions that have already been taken to strengthen reservoir safety, for example:



a ministerial direction in April 2021 requiring reservoir owners to prepare on site emergency flood plans for all their large raised reservoirs. Owners were given a year to do this and the Environment Agency report that 94% of registered reservoirs now have plans certified by reservoir engineers;

guidance issued to reservoir owners about having inspection information packs for their reservoirs;

guidance developed in collaboration with engineers and issued by the Environment Agency to improve spillway inspection and management; and

the Institution of Civil Engineers, at my request, is carrying out research to improve the future supply of engineers.

The reform programme will be spread over several years so that changes can be managed alongside ongoing reservoir safety management in a proportionate and reasonable way. The Welsh Government and the other UK Administrations will be kept informed and involved with the development of the safety regime because the Reservoirs Act covers England and Wales, and reservoir engineers work across the UK. The Reservoirs Act 1975 as amended by the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 will remain in force until legislative changes are made.



The Government’s planned actions in response to individual recommendations in the review are summarised in Table 1 below.



Our reforms will bring the reservoir safety regime for England into line with other high risk sectors such as the nuclear industry and rail. It will lead to a modernised safety regime that protects the lives and livelihoods of those living downstream of reservoirs, while preserving the important role of these crucial assets in safeguarding our water supply in a changing climate.