The Reservoirs Act 1975 and reservoir risk designations Available to Purchase

The Flood and Water Management Act 2010 amends the Reservoirs Act 1975 and introduced a new responsibility that requires the Environment Agency to consider whether or not to give all large raised reservoirs in England a high-risk designation. Reservoirs that are not designated as high risk will no longer be subject to the full requirements of the Reservoirs Act 1975 and in particular will no longer be legally required to have their structures inspected and supervised by panel engineers. This paper explains the legal background to the risk designation process, outlines the approach that has been taken to the work and outlines how challenges to risk designations can be made.