Reservoirs Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 Explanatory Notes

Section 1 – Controlled reservoirs

The Act provides a regulatory regime for reservoirs that will be known as ‘controlled reservoirs’ as defined by the legislation. The definition of a ‘controlled reservoir’ is set out in principal in section 1 and includes structures or areas designed or used for collecting and storing water, artificial or partly artificially lakes or other artificial areas which are capable of holding 10,000 cubic metres of water above the natural level of any part of the surrounding land. Further detail both in relation to what is, and what is not, a controlled reservoir for the purposes of the Act is contained in section 5; and under section 2 certain structures or areas which are not in themselves controlled reservoirs will fall to be regulated by the Act as if they were controlled reservoirs.

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