Latest News
Next BDS Meeting: AGM & International Lecture - Monday 25th April 2022 at 6pm
This month’s evening meeting will be our AGM followed by our biennial International Lecture. This year we welcome Tracey Williamson, former BDS Chair and Fellow of the ICE, who will be presenting on Dam Safety Management in Queensland, Australia. She will compare and contrast the dam safety regimes practiced in the UK and Queensland, whilst highlighting some of the dams she has inspected.
28th EWG-IE Workshop – Call for PapersThe annual meeting of the European Working Group on Internal Erosion in Embankment Dams, Levees and Dikes, and their Foundations will now be held 18th – 21st July 2022 at the University of Sheffield. |
Lunchtime CPD EventsThis April’s lunchtime CPD session will be on 28th April 2022 and will cover the Preparation of Emergency Onsite Plans (Presenter: Matt Coombs - Binnies). You can access the event by clicking on the Microsoft Teams Link: Click here to join the meeting
If you have any suggestions for a future CPD events, know of anyone willing to present or have any feedback – please do get in touch. |
Next BDS evening meetingOur next BDS evening meeting will be on Monday 7th March 2022 at 6.00pm.
The meeting titled “Guidance following the 2019 Toddbrook Reservoir Incident” will be presented by Kieron Kenny, Viktor Pavlov, Tim Daly and Eddie Robinson. |
Last BDS MeetingThe BDS Prize Evening was held on 10 January 2022. Five presentations were made by the following Young Professionals: · Emma Bullen – Arcadis – Managing the dam breach modelling and mapping of reservoirs in Wales. · Amy Carter – Arcadis – Drivers for discontinuance: a multi-disciplinary approach to feasibility assessment. · Ciara Gill – Jacobs – Forge Mill Flood Storage Area: Lessons learnt. · Michael Jack – SSE – Maintaining our dams and contributing towards Net Zero.
· India Hutchinson – Stantec – Grassholme Reservoir: Northern embankment stabilisation works |
Young Professional Group - BDS Great British Dam Bake-offWe are delighted to announce the winner of The Great British Dam Bake-Off as Matthew Rhodes! A £50 Amazon voucher will be sent out shortly. |
27th ICOLD Congress and 90th ICOLD Annual MeetingThe organizing committee of the 27th congress of ICOLD to be held in Marseille from 27 May to 3 June 2022 have announced that registration is now open. Information on registration can be found on the website, along with accommodation options. Please follow the link below for more details:
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ICOLD Technical Committee ElectionsFollowing a recent invitation for BDS members to apply for current vacancies on the various ICOLD Technical Committees, two new nominations have been confirmed by the BDS main committee. |
BDS Prize Evening ResultsThank you to our finalists who presented their papers at the BDS Prize Evening on Monday evening (10th January 2021). We are pleased to announce the winners for the Young Professionals Prize: |
New Statutory Instrument - The Reservoirs Act (Panels of Civil Engineers) (Applications and Fees) Regulations 2021A new Statutory Instrument has recently been published regarding reservoir engineer panels for England and Wales from 1 January 2022 and change of application fee from 1 April 2022.
The Secretary of State and the Welsh Ministers have made a joint Determination to establish four joint reservoir engineer panels for England and Wales. |
Next BDS meeting: BDS Prize / Photo CompetitionOur next BDS evening meeting will be the BDS Prize Evening on Monday 10th January 2022 at 6pm.
Five papers have been selected from the entries to the BDS Prize Competition which is open to BDS members under 35 years of age. The submitted papers (2,500 words) are on a topic of dam engineering relating to the author's experience in reservoir research, design, construction, operation, maintenance, or supervision. The following entries will be presenting their papers (10 minutes) and answering questions for the judges and online participants. |
21st BDS ConferenceThe 21st BDS Conference will be held at the University of Nottingham between 14th and 17th September 2022. The theme of the conference will reflect on how we rise to the challenges within our industry. This may be driven by specific reservoir events, introductions of new legislation, guidance, sharing of best practice and current views on a sustainable carbon neutral world. |
The Great British Dam Bake OffThe Young Professionals Group are running a virtual baking competition for all BDS members as an engaging way to create learning resources for school children whilst showcasing the baking talents of members. The deadline for entries has been extended to Tuesday 4th January 2022 to allow you baking time during the Christmas holidays. |
ICOLD 27th Congress - 90th Annual Meeting: 27 May to 3 June 2022The next ICOLD Congress is due to take place in Marseille, France between 27 May and 3 June 2022. The BDS would like to encourage as many of its members to attend this event as possible given its close proximity to the UK. Full details of the event can be found on the congress website:- |
Reservoir Flood MappingThe Environment Agency has now published the updated reservoir flood maps. This provides more accurate flood maps for 1,865 reservoirs which includes all large raised reservoirs that were in operation in October 2016. New guidance is published on GOV.UK and the new RFMs are available:
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BDS Evening Meeting – Monday 22nd November 2021 – Registration RequiredBDS Evening Meeting – Monday 22nd November 2021 – Registration Required Our next BDS evening meeting will be on Monday 22nd November 2021 at 6:00pm. The meeting titled “Hydropower Extension Projects at Tarbela Dam, Pakistan” will be presented by Brian B Darling, Mark D Gill and Gonzalo Montilla Castro (Mott MacDonald). PLEASE NOTE: The ICE requires that attendees, either in person or online, register in advance of the event so that refreshments can be organised and so that online viewing links can be emailed in advance. Please use the following link to register
https://www.ice.org.uk/events/hydropower-extension-projects-tarbela-dam-london |
Next BDS evening meetingOur next BDS evening meeting will be on Monday 22nd November 2021 at 6:00pm. The meeting titled “Hydropower Extension Projects at Tarbela Dam, Pakistan” will be presented by Brian B Darling, Mark D Gill and Gonzalo Montilla Castro (Mott MacDonald). |
Supervising Engineers’ Forum updateThe Supervising Engineers’ Forum was held at the University of Nottingham on 16th September 2021. For the first time all of the technical sessions from this event were recorded. The BDS has completed editing these videos and is currently waiting for the ICE to host the files on its website. An email will be sent out to all members when the recordings are available to view. |
BDS Events CalendarThe Events Calendar on the BDS website contains all the available information regarding forthcoming BDS events. The BDS also adds the details of several non-BDS events run by associated societies and organisations that we think may be of interest to BDS members. Please do keep an eye on this page for further BDS updates and other online events that may be of interest. |
POSTPONED: BDS Prize EveningThe BDS Young Professionals Prize evening, scheduled for 22nd November 2021, has been postponed until our January 2022 meeting due to insufficient entries into this competition. In light of this we are extending the deadline for receiving synopsis until 31st October 2021. Please can we encourage you and your colleagues (Under 35) to submit a 250 word synopsis by the extended deadline. Prizes for this competition are £500, £250 and £100. |
Opportunities for representation on ICOLD Technical CommitteesWe invite all members to apply to represent the interests of the BDS on a number of ICOLD Technical Committees (TC). The Job Description for our representatives can be found here. We are seeking candidates to take up the role from 1st January 2022 and require applications to be made by 15th October 2021 in writing to Andrew Thompson (Honourable Technical Secretary) at hontechsec@britishdams.org. Existing representatives (as applicable) can apply for a mandate to extend their role by up to three years. New representatives will receive a mandate for up to six years... |
10th International Conference on Scour and ErosionRegistration is now open for the 10th International Conference on Scour and Erosion. This conference will now be a virtual event held from 18th to 21st October 2021. |
ICOLD Circular Letter No. 1980Some important dates regarding ICOLD activities for the remainder of 2021 are included in ICOLD Circular Letter No.1980. |
ICOLD NewsletterICOLD have published their latest newsletter (No.19). A copy of the newsletter can be found here. |
BDS 15th Supervising Engineers’ ForumRegistration for the Supervising Engineers’ Forum is now open. We are pleased to inform you that the forum will be an in-person event at the University of Nottingham on Thursday 16th September 2021.
Information regarding the event, provisional programme and COVID-19 precautions can all be found on the Events Calendar page of the BDS website. Registration to this event can be completed on the SE Forum page of the BDS website. |
BDS Young Professionals’ Competition - Now OpenThe 2021 BDS Prize competition is now open. Details of the competition are available here. This competition is aimed at our under-35 group of members and offers them a chance to showcase their contributions to dam engineering through a paper. The finalists will be invited to present their paper at our evening meeting on 22nd November 2021 in London and the paper will appear in our journal. There are cash prizes for the winners. Candidates must submit a 250 word synopsis of their proposed paper by 10th September 2021. |
BDS Photography Competition 2021 - Now OpenThe 2021 BDS photography competition is now open. Full details can be found here. You have until 22nd September 2021 to submit your photos for the chance to win a cash prize, so please submit now and good luck. Please note that entries MUST be uploaded to the BDS website directly in accordance with the competition rules and the files will be checked to ensure the picture width is greater than 3000pixels and the file size is no larger than 6MB. |
Supervising Engineers’ Forum – Thursday 16th September 2021 (Action Needed)The BDS 15th Supervising Engineers’ Forum will take place on Thursday 16th September 2021. The BDS still hopes that this can be an in-person event at the University of Nottingham. If this is not possible then the forum will be held as an online event with a number of different technical sessions and a discussion period. Registration for this event will commence on Monday 2nd August. |
Independent Reservoir Safety Review ReportAn independent review of reservoir safety legislation and its application was commissioned by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2020 and was led by Professor David Balmforth.
The review report, published on 13 May 2021, provides a comprehensive assessment of the current safety regime in England. It makes recommendations for improving the safety regime and to strengthen the roles and responsibilities for the regulator, reservoir owners and engineers. |
Reservoir on-site emergency flood plansA ministerial direction to undertakers in relation to reservoir on-site flood plans for large raised reservoirs in England was published on 22nd April 2021.
Following the publication of the direction the BDS held an evening meeting on Monday 26th April 2021 titled “Emergency Planning for Reservoirs”. The first part of this meeting heard from Jan Kiernan (Defra) and Tony Deakin (Environment Agency) who explained the new requirements and what is now needed from owners and engineers. A recording of this meeting can be found in the ‘Listen Again’ page of the BDS website. |
Reservoir owner and operator guidance: inspection information packThe Environment Agency recently (6th July 2021) published new guidance for reservoir owners and operators regarding the creation and maintenance of an inspection information pack for their reservoir(s). This is the first of the new guidance recommended in the Toddbrook Reservoir Incident Independent Review (Part A). The new guidance can be found using the link below:-
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/reservoir-owner-and-operator-guidance-inspection-information-pack |
ICOLD Vice-President Carlos-Enrique MedeirosICOLD President Michael Rogers issued circular letter No.1979 on 7th July informing the ICOLD community of the death of ICOLD Vice-President Carlos-Enrique Medeiros on 5th July 2021 after a long fight against the Covid-19 virus. A copy of circular letter No.1979 can be found here. |
Next BDS evening meeting - Monday 12th July 2021The next BDS evening meeting is ‘The History and Development of the London Storage Reservoir System’ on Monday 12th July 2021 presented by Bryn Philpott of Thames Water. The meeting will be held online starting at 6pm. More information and a link for the meeting can be found on the BDS website ‘Events Calendar’ page. |
Upcoming EventsThere are a number of events coming up this year organised by the BDS and other organisations. Full details are available on the BDS website. Dates for your diaries:
We are in the process of planning events for 2022. If you have any suggestions or would like to give a talk on an interesting dams-related topic, then please contact Darren Shaw (Darren.Shaw@arup.com). Your presentation does not need to be a full hour as we often combine presentations on similar topics to provide an informative evening event for the membership. |
Independent Reservoir Safety Review ReportAn independent review of reservoir safety legislation and its application was commissioned by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in 2020 and was led by Professor David Balmforth. The review report, published on 13 May 2021, provides a comprehensive assessment of the current safety regime in England. It makes recommendations for improving the safety regime and to strengthen the roles and responsibilities for the regulator, reservoir owners and engineers. |
Reservoir on-site emergency flood plansA Ministerial Direction to require on-site flood plans for large raised reservoirs in England was issued to all undertakers on 22nd April 2021. A copy of which has been put onto www.gov.uk for reference and information. Here are links to the Ministerial Direction and the associated guidance documents. Ministerial Direction – requirement for reservoir on-site emergency flood plans https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reservoir-on-site-flood-plans-ministerial-direction Guidance documents https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reservoir-emergencies-on-site-plan |
Next evening meetingOur next evening meeting with be The History of Thames Water Reservoirs on Monday 12th July 2021 at 6pm. This meeting will be an on-line only event.
Further details including the full list of presenters and the necessary links will be made available on our website shortly. |
Royal Society special issue - Intensification of short-duration rainfall extremes and implications for flash flood risksRoyal Society Publishing has recently published a special issue of Philosophical Transactions A entitled Intensification of short-duration rainfall extremes and implications for flash flood risks organised and edited by Hayley Fowler, Conrad Wasko and Andreas F Prein and the articles can be accessed directly at www.bit.ly/TransA-2195. |
Update on the Toddbrook Part A review recommendations from the EAWe have a message from Tony Deakin, Head of Reservoir Safety, Environment Agency which provides an update on the work arising from Part A of the Toddbrook review. Tony’s message is reproduced below. “You may recall the actions as a result of Part A of the independent review into the 2019 Toddbrook Reservoir spillway failure by Prof David Balmforth. At that time I set out a plan to respond to the Part A recommendations as follows:
The team which supporting me to deliver this plan: Kieron Kenny – kieron.kenny@turntown.co.uk Viktor Pavlov – pavlovvv@binnies.com Eddie Robinson – robinsoned@binnies.com Tim Daly – tim.daly@mottmac.com Many of you have already responded to my initial request and have generously offered your support to develop this guidance, for which I am grateful. If you did respond and haven’t already been contacted by my team, then you should expect to be contacted in the next few weeks. If you haven’t responded and would like to be involved, please get in touch with me or one of my team. It’s important that this guidance is developed collaboratively by a representative cross section of the reservoir community and your support is necessary to achieve this. Part B of the independent review will consider the legislative and regulatory framework which governs the management of reservoirs in England. In anticipation of potential changes to legislation as a result of this review, we have adapted our plan and now intend to publish deliverables 4, 5, 6 and 7 as interim guidance, which will respond specifically to the recommendations of the Part A review, pending the future introduction of new or updated legislation. My team has been busy developing the necessary plans to prepare and publish this guidance in the late summer/early autumn of this year and look forward to engaging with those of you who so generously offer your time.“ |
Next evening meetingOur next on-line evening meeting together with the AGM is on 26 April at 6pm. This will be followed by a presentation on Emergency Planning for Reservoirs. Further details including the full list of presenters will be made available on our website shortly. |
Election of new BDS Chair and Vice ChairI am pleased to announce that David Littlemore has been elected by the BDS Committee to stand as the next BDS Chair with effect from the AGM on 26 April. Rachel Davies has been elected as the next Vice-Chair. Congratulations on your new roles! |
Nominations for new BDS Committee membersMembers should have received nomination forms for new membership of the BDS Committee and the Young Professionals Group. We have many spaces available on the committee from April to replace elected members who have completed their term. The deadline for nominations is 29 March. We hope you will consider actively contributing to the BDS. |
Extreme flood researchThe Environment Agency has started a new project which aims to improve Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) and Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) estimation for reservoir safety. The project aims to assess the suitability of existing methods for estimating PMP and PMF and develop new methods and guidelines to ensure that we understand the risk posed to our highest risk reservoirs from extreme flood events. You can find further details here. Please click "Read More" for more information. |
NRW position statement on risk designation and first inspection of statutory reservoirs in WalesNatural Resources Wales have recently published an important position statement relating to the processes for risk designation and first inspection of statutory reservoirs of between 10,000 – 25,000m3 capacity. You can find the document here. |
ICOLD Congress postponedICOLD has advised that the Congress in Marseilles has been postponed until 12-19 November 2021 on account of the pandemic. |
Next evening meetingOur next on-line evening meeting is on 1 March at 6pm. Peter Mason will be presenting on “Concrete spillways – inspections and defects”. |
Dams and Reservoirs EditorWe have a new editor of our journal Dams & Reservoirs. Anthea Peters has been our editor for many years and we would like to thank her for the fantastic contribution she has made in securing interesting content for our journal. The new editor is Andrew Pepper who once served on the Committee as our Technical Secretary and is very familiar with our industry and the needs of the membership. |