The Reservoirs Act 1975 (Registers, Reports and Records) Regulations 1985

Statutory Instruments

1985 No. 177

WATER, ENGLAND AND WALES WATER SUPPLY, SCOTLAND

The Reservoirs Act 1975 (Registers, Reports and Records) Regulations 1985

Made

13th February 1985

Coming into Operation

1st April 1985

The Secretary of State, in exercise of his powers under sections 2, 3, 5 and 11 of the Reservoirs Act 1975, and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following regulations:—

Citation and commencement

1.  These regulations may be cited as the Reservoirs Act 1975 (Registers, Reports and Records) Regulations 1985 and shall come into operation on 1st April 1985.

Interpretation

2.  In this order—

“the Act” means the Reservoirs Act 1975,

“the Act of 1930” means the Reservoirs (Safety Provisions) Act 1930,

“lowest natural ground level” means, where relevant, the lowest bed level of any watercourse,

“top water level” means, in relation to a reservoir with a fixed overflow sill, the lowest crest level of that sill, and for a reservoir the overflow from which is controlled wholly or partly by movable gates, syphons or otherwise, the maximum level to which water may be stored exclusive of any provision for flood storage.

Registers

3.—(1) The prescribed information to be given about large raised reservoirs in any register kept by a local authority pursuant to section 2(2) of the Act shall be the information set out in Schedule 1 to these regulations, provided that the information set out as items 7 to 10 is only prescribed in the case of a reservoir for which a local authority are the enforcement authority or the undertakers.

(2) The register referred to above shall be kept at the principal office of the local authority.

Reports

4.—(1) Reports shall be made by local authorities to the Secretary of State under section 3 of the Act as follows:—

(a) a first report on 1st April 1987, and

(b) further reports at subsequent intervals of two years.

(2) The prescribed information which a local authority shall give in the reports required by section 3, shall be—

(a) information as to the steps (if any) that the authority as an enforcement authority has taken in respect of any reservoir to secure that undertakers observe and comply with the requirements of the Act; and

(b) a statement whether as undertakers for any reservoir situated wholly in their area, they have been required by any section of the Act to take steps to observe and comply with the Act, and a statement as to any steps that have been taken;

such information to be accompanied by a statement of the number of reservoirs for which the authority is enforcement authority and the number of reservoirs situated wholly in their area for which the authority are the undertakers.

Records

5.—(1) The prescribed form of the record required by section 11(1) of the Act to be kept for every large raised reservoir by the undertakers shall be the form set out in Schedule 2 to these regulations.

(2) The other matters of which a record is to be kept under section 11(1), in addition to those specified in subsections (1)(a) and (b) of that section, shall be the matters set out in Schedule 3 to these regulations.

(3) The information which is to be given about those matters which are specified in section 11(1)(a) and (b) of the Act shall be that set out in Parts 1 and 2 of the form of record in Schedule 2 and the information which is to be given about the additional matters specified in Schedule 3 shall be that set out in Parts 3 to 11 of that form.

Patrick Jenkin

Secretary of State for the Environment

12th February 1985

Nicholas Edwards

Secretary of State for Wales

12th February 1985

George Younger

Secretary of State for Scotland

13th February 1985

Regulation 3

SCHEDULE 1

Information to be given in Registers of Large Raised Reservoirs.

1.  Name and situation of reservoir.

2.  National grid reference of reservoir.

3.  Name and address of undertakers.

4.  Name and address of enforcement authority, if any.

5.  A summary of the contents of all certificates or reports under the Act, or the Act of 1930, received by the authority, including:—

(i) the name and address of the engineer giving the certificate or making the report,

(ii) the section of whichever Act the certificate is given under or the report made,

(iii) the date(s) of the latest inspection made under the Act of 1930,

(iv) where no final certificate was given under the Act of 1930 because the construction or alteration of the reservoir was completed before the commencement of that Act, a statement of that fact.

6.  The following information, if it is revealed by any certificate or report or is otherwise known to the authority:—

(i) the category of the reservoir (i.e. whether impounding or non-impounding),

(ii) year(s) in which the dam(s) were completed,

(iii) the construction of the dam(s) (i.e. whether constructed of earth, rockfill, gravity, buttress or by other means),

(iv) the maximum height of the dam(s) in metres measured from the lowest natural ground level adjacent to it, to the top of the dam, excluding the height of the wave wall,

(v) the capacity of the reservoir above the lowest natural ground level adjacent to it (in cubic metres) to top water level,

(vi) the water surface area of the reservoir at top water level (in square metres or square kilometres).

7.  Name and business address of the supervising engineer or, if the reservoir is under the supervision of a construction engineer, of that engineer.

8.  Date when the next inspection is due under the Act or any date recommended for the next inspection under the Act by the supervising or inspecting engineer.

9.  Particulars of any appointment made by the enforcement authority under section 15 of the Act.

10.  Particulars of any measures taken by the enforcement authority under section 16 of the Act, including the date on which they were taken.

Regulation 5

SCHEDULE 2

Prescribed Form of Record for a Large Raised Reservoir

Regulation 5

SCHEDULE 3

Prescribed matters relating to large raised reservoirs of which undertakers are to keep a record.

1.  Persons having, in relation to the reservoir, a function provided for by the Act.

2.  Certificates given under the Act or under the Act of 1930.

3.  Reports made under the Act or under the Act of 1930.

4.  Appointment of referees under the Act or the Act of 1930.

5.  Re-use, abandonment and discontinuance.

6.  Physical characteristics of direct and indirect catchment areas of the reservoir and method of filling from indirect catchment area.

7.  Standard average annual rainfall on direct and indirect catchment areas of the reservoir.

8.  Means of access to the reservoir.

9.  Category of the reservoir, its use, the certified level up to which it may store water, its surface water area, capacity and fetch.

10.  Structural character of the dam, reservoir wall or embankment, its date of completion, height, level of the top of the dam and reservoir wall or embankment and of the wave wall above Ordnance Datum. Details of draw off works, bottom outlets, or any other means of lowering the water level together with their maximum rates of discharge.

11.  Spillway works; their type, location and level and the safety provisions made in connection with their operation.

12.  Measures taken in the interests of safety on the recommendation of a qualified civil engineer.

13.  Unusual events which could affect the safety of the reservoir.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These regulations prescribe matters in relation to sections 2, 3 and 11 of the Reservoirs Act 1975, which are to come into force on 1st April 1985 in the non-metropolitan counties in England and in Wales and Scotland.

Regulation 3 prescribes the information about large raised reservoirs which is to be given in the register that local authorities are required by section 2 to maintain and requires that the register is to be kept at their principal offices.

Regulation 4 specifies the information that is to be given in the reports required by section 3 to be made to the Secretary of State by local authorities as to the steps they have taken as enforcement authorities to secure that reservoir undertakers observe and comply with the requirements of the Act and, as undertakers to themselves observe and comply with the Act. A first report is to be made on 1st April 1987 and subsequent reports at intervals of two years.

Regulation 5 prescribes certain matters, additional to those mentioned in section 11 of the Act about which reservoir undertakers have to provide information in the record of large raised reservoirs to be kept by them. They specify the particular information to be recorded and the form in which the record is to be kept.