Reservoir hazard analysis and flood mapping for contingency planning

Under revisions to the Reservoirs Act 1975 introduced through the Water Act 2003, the Secretary of State has powers to direct reservoir undertakers to prepare flood plans. These are rquired to help the emergency services and others in providing an effective response – with regard to evacuation and other precautions – in the event of a threatened or actual dam failure, or some other uncontrolled escape of water.

This paper comments on current practice in producing flood plans to aid contingency planning in the UK, and how this may develop in the future. The paper also provides some interesting results from statistical analyses of reservoir hazard assessments, drawing from over 300 reservoir hazard analyses undertaken since 1990.

• Legislative Background

• Proposals for Flood Plans

• Dambreak Methodology

• Statistical Analyses

• Conclusions

• References