Research on risk designation and small raised reservoirs

• Published in: Dams & reservoirs 2022-06, Vol.32 (2), p.62-69
• Main Authors: Penman, James G., Golds, Simon R., Raja, Omar H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Flood management; Legislation; Probability theory; Reservoirs; Risk; Rural environments; Water management
• ISSN: 1368-1494; 1756-8404
• DOI: 10.1680/jdare.21.00004a

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) awarded a contract to Mott MacDonald in March 2017 for ‘Applying a risk-based approach and improving the evidence base related to small raised reservoirs’. The project was delivered between March 2017 and October 2019. High-level objectives of the contract were: Objective 1: provide evidence to feed into a post-implementation review of the first phase of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 (FWMA 2010) reservoir provisions. Objective 2: provide evidence on the number of small raised reservoirs (SRRs) and the risk they pose. Objective 3: consider refinements to the current risk-based approach and methodology, including taking into account probability of failure and reservoir type (e.g. service reservoirs) for assessing reservoir risk and exemptions and to provide evidence to inform decisions about whether to implement certain aspects of the FWMA 2010. The research findings are summarised in this paper and conclusions are given in full in the original research reports. The purpose of the project was to provide evidence to the client on reservoir safety in England but not to make recommendations on future legislation. This research study including images and data are based on the research reports published by the client.