The British Dam Society

Holiday Season

As 2023 draws to an end, the BDS would like to wish all its members, their families and friends a Happy New Year! 

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at our various events through 2024.  

Forthcoming BDS Events

Service Reservoirs (Thames Water)

The next technical meeting, which is entitled “The Service Reservoir – More than just a concrete box” will be presented by Jon Green and Bryn Philpott of Thames Water on the 8th of July 2024. The meeting will take place online, and at our various hubs across the country, more information can be found on the Events page. Please note that One Great George Street is currently closed for refurbishment so there will not be any in-person meeting.  

BDS Conference 2024 - NOW OPEN

The next biennial conference will be held at Keele University from Wednesday 11th to Saturday 14th September 2024. Registration for the event is now open. Information on the conference and how to register as a delegate, exhibitor and/or sponsor can be found here.

BDS Photo Competition 2024

The 2024 BDS Photo competition is open! More details can be found under the following link. Winners will be announced at the BDS Conference in September.   

Site Visits

The BDS site visit to Toddbrook has been cancelled and a new date will be confirmed in the future.  

BDS Young Professionals

CPD Events 

The dates of up-and-coming YP CPD events can now be found on the BDS website here. The next event will be on the 25th July 2024. 

ICOLD 2024 – New Delhi, India – Call for Abstracts

The 92nd Annual Meeting of ICOLD & Symposium Dams for People, Water, Environment and Development is to be held from September 29th to October 3rd, 2024 in New Delhi. The call for abstracts has now been released with a deadline of 31st December 2023. Full details are available on the event website: https://www.icold2024.org/#/home

International Symposium on Dams and Earthquakes

The 7th meeting of the European working group shall be in Athens between the 12th and 13th September 2024. For more information, please refer to the following link.  

New Ciria Guidance Document

CIRIA has released a new guidance document entitled ‘Siphons in dams – design, installation, operation, management and testing (C813)’ a link to more information can be found here.

Landscape-led Design Principles and Guidance for New Reservoirs and Associated Infrastructure

The National Framework for Water Resources published by the Environment Agency in 2020, and the more recent regional water resource plans and water company Water Resource Management Plans consulted on in 2023 include the development of new water resources including over 10 new reservoirs over the next 25 years.  

Natural England have recently launched a project to prepare guidance on ensuring that opportunities to enhance the natural landscape are maximised – see flyer for more information. Members are welcome to contact the project team directly.  Also, Julian Welbank is supporting the project through a link with his work for the West Country Water Resources Group (julian.welbankj@gmail.com).