Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of floating solar panels on reservoirs on the Environment Agency's risk designation for such reservoirs.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
When considering the risk designation of reservoirs, the Environment Agency looks at the volume of water that could be stored by the reservoir, along with the potential loss of life that could occur should there be an uncontrolled release of that water. The use of the reservoir for things such as solar panels does not affect the risk designation.
If solar panels were to be installed on a reservoir, the Environment Agency would recommend that a qualified Panel Engineer is consulted to assess any associated reservoir safety risk. It is worth noting that there is other legislation that may apply which could impact on what can and cannot be done.
Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to reinstate dredging to increase river capacity.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Where watercourse maintenance is the responsibility of the Environment Agency (EA), it focuses its efforts on those activities which will achieve the greatest benefit in terms of protecting people and property from flooding. This includes dredging, which the EA will undertake an assessment of, working in close consultation with local communities.
For many locations, there are more effective ways to protect land and communities from floods as part of a catchment-based approach.