Welcome to issue 2 of 2016. You may be aware that our current Dams and Reservoirs journal was preceded by News and Views, which was first published in May 1967 and included introductions from the president of ICOLD and the chairman of the British National Committee, alongside technical papers and updates on current and forthcoming dam projects in the UK and overseas. To celebrate 50 years of the journal of the British Dam Society, we have produced a special issue of Dams and Reservoirs journal that revisits the first publication. Within our special issue you will find selected reprints from the original journal alongside a series of papers that provide an update on the dam projects mentioned. We also include articles on the history of the British Dam Society and its future.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our contributors to this special issue of Dams and Reservoirs journal, who kindly agreed to write papers.
We would like to remind our readers that the photography competition is currently underway, so we ask any budding photographers to start considering their (winning) entries. The deadline for entries will be 30 September 2016. Electronic images should be emailed to tim.fuller@ice.org.uk and entrants should include the time and date the photograph was taken, plus a short description of the dam, including its location, in no more than 50 words.
We would like to remind our readers that we welcome comment and discussion on our published papers. If you would like to provide any discussion on the papers included in this issue, or previous issues, please email the editor. We are currently looking for papers for our 2017 issues. Please could I request that our readership continue to highlight topics and schemes that they think would be of interest to the wider readership and contact the editor with a proposed title or subject in the first instance? Please note that our editorial panel are on hand to provide mentoring and guidance in preparation of papers, should this be required.
Changes to the application procedure for Supervising Engineer Panel and All Reservoir Engineer Panel
The reservoir committee have completed a detailed review of the application procedure for Panel Engineers. The new approach considers a suite of ‘attributes’ and aims to aid the applicant in providing more guidance on the level, depth and breadth of knowledge required to achieve panel status.
The table of attributes and the updated guidance documents are available on the ICE website. The new application procedure will be live from the 1 October 2016 and all applications and re-applications will be required to be in line with the new guidance from this date.
The major clarification in the new guidance relates to the level of professional qualification expected in an applicant. This is summarised below.
To achieve membership of the Supervising Engineer Panel an applicant must have a minimum professional qualification of IEng. This can be achieved by holding a degree in an appropriate engineering subject, or by following the technical report route. Further details of the path to IEng can be found on the ICE website.
To achieve membership of the All Reservoir Panel an applicant must have a minimum professional qualification of CEng, or equivalent overseas qualification.
Significant work has been undertaken by the committee in order to minimise the impact of the changes on those training towards either panel and therefore a 5-year transition period has been agreed with respect to the minimum level of membership required of the ICE or other relevant professional body. The end of the transition period relating to professional qualification will be 1 October 2022.
It should be noted in the case of the Supervising Engineer Panel that the requirement to hold a minimum of IEng will not be applied retrospectively, therefore those without IEng will still be able to be re-appointed under the new guidelines.
Upcoming events
| 3 October 2016 | ICE London | Genale Dawa 3 HEP, Ethiopia |
| 21 November 2016 | ICE London | Banja Dam and Devoll HPP Scheme, Albania (date TBC) |
| 16 January 2017 | ICE London | EA reservoir research projects update |
| 20 February 2017 | ICE London | Hampstead Heath Reservoir Scheme |
| 20 March 2017 | ICE London | AGM and technical meeting: Performance of federal flood protection systems during the last three major inland floods in the USA |
| 8 May 2017 | ICE London | Butterly Reservoir |
| 2 October 2017 | ICE London | Managing our non-operational reservoirs |
| 20 November 2017 | ICE London | BDS Prize Meeting |
| 3 October 2016 | ICE London | Genale Dawa 3 HEP, Ethiopia |
| 21 November 2016 | ICE London | Banja Dam and Devoll HPP Scheme, Albania (date TBC) |
| 16 January 2017 | ICE London | EA reservoir research projects update |
| 20 February 2017 | ICE London | Hampstead Heath Reservoir Scheme |
| 20 March 2017 | ICE London | AGM and technical meeting: Performance of federal flood protection systems during the last three major inland floods in the USA |
| 8 May 2017 | ICE London | Butterly Reservoir |
| 2 October 2017 | ICE London | Managing our non-operational reservoirs |
| 20 November 2017 | ICE London | BDS Prize Meeting |
A full calendar of future events and meetings is provided on the BDS website, which is kept updated with any changes to the publicised events calendar. The website also includes a web link to those events held at the ICE London and a facility to ‘listen again’ to some of the previous presentations.
