Evidence on costs and benefits of on-site emergency flood plans for reservoirs
FD2742 collected views and evidence of the costs and benefits of onsite emergency flood plans (one element of reservoir safety).
Documents
The final reports, methodology documents, and technical note can be downloaded from Defra Science Search.
Details
This project aimed to assess the costs and benefits arising from the revised requirements for On-Site Emergency Flood Plans (OSEPs) for large, raised reservoirs required under the Reservoirs Act 1975. The research reviewed the financial and administrative costs of developing, implementing, and maintaining OSEPs and the associated mandated requirements, including certification, review and exercising. To achieve this:
-
a desk-based study of international reservoir and dam case studies and comparable UK industries was undertaken
-
surveys and interviews were conducted with reservoir undertakers, panel engineers and emergency planning stakeholders to collect qualitative data and understand perceptions within the industry.
Summary
This project provides an analysis of the current approach to OSEPs and the associated costs and benefits for reservoir undertakers, engineers, regulators, emergency planning stakeholders, emergency responders, downstream communities, and the general public. Evidence was collected and analysed through:
-
questionnaires and interviews with reservoir undertakers, panel engineers and emergency planning stakeholders.
-
comparison with emergency planning requirements in other UK sectors and reservoir emergency planning requirements internationally.
This evidence will support decision making on future approaches to OSEPs and their testing and exercising requirements. In this regard, the project report suggests alternative approaches and potential changes to these requirements.
Project information
The research was conducted by JBA Consulting.
The project was funded by Defra, as part of the joint Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Research and Development Programme.