, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary
for Climate Change and Rural Affairs: Reservoir safety in
England and Wales is currently legislated through the Reservoirs
Act 1975 (‘the Act'). The aim of the Act is to protect
people against the uncontrolled release of water from
large-raised reservoirs. In August 2019 following heavy rain,
there was a partial collapse of the dam at Toddbrook reservoir in
Derbyshire, which saw over 1500 people evacuated from the town of
Whaley Bridge for several days.
At the time of the incident, Toddbrook reservoir was fully
compliant with existing legislation and had recently been
inspected. This prompted serious questions over whether the
current reservoir safety regime in England and Wales is fit for
purpose and the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs commissioned Professor David Balmforth to undertake
an independent review of reservoir safety in England. Although
the Balmforth review was an England only review, the subsequent
2021 report identified weaknesses in the existing reservoir
safety regime relevant for both England and Wales.
Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales are fully committed
to strengthening and reforming our reservoir safety
regime. We have implemented changes in
Wales which align with recommendations made by Professor
Balmforth and work continues to deliver further reform.
We already work closely with our UK Government
colleagues and we have now joined the Reservoir Safety
Reform Programme. Working together with Defra and the Environment
Agency, will ensure there is consistency across roles and
responsibilities for reservoir safety engineers who work across
both nations. There are 3 main areas for reform:
- Creating a more modern approach to hazard management.
- Improving the supply and capacity of reservoir safety
engineers.
- Updating the approach to regulation and enforcement.
Each of these areas will be supported by a number of reforms.
Furthermore, we are currently collaborating on the development of
a new hazard classification system, and have supported UK
Government colleagues with insight, advice and guidance in
working with small raised reservoirs and how they might be
represented within the new classification system.
Both Welsh Government and UK Government recognise the value of a
shared safety regime and I am delighted this collaborative
cross-border working will continue. Today, I am pleased to
confirm that Wales will join England in a joint reservoir safety
reform programme to modernise legislation.
Whilst this is a pivotal moment for reservoir safety, the central
principles which guide our approach in Wales will remain – for
example, use of qualified civil engineers to undertake
inspections and supervisions. However, these principles will be
applied more on the basis of risk and proportionality. Our
vision is to modernise the regulation of reservoir safety in
Wales, to reduce the risk to those who live and work in the
communities downstream and the natural environment, and to ensure
reservoirs are resilient to future impacts of climate change.
I am aware we have a comparatively small population of reservoir
owners in Wales. However, as the Toddbrook incident demonstrated,
reservoir owners play a significant role in ensuring the safety
of communities downstream and it is vital that everyone is aware
of their respective responsibilities. I encourage Members to
consult the Citizen Space (Wales)
website which contains further information.
