What is BDS?

Supervising Engineers Forum – Registration is now open

The next Supervising Engineers Forum will be held at the National Conference Centre in Birmingham on Thursday, 18th September 2025. The registration is now open, registration closes on 29th August 2025. Additional information, including the topics covered, can be found here.

Update on activities of the Panel Engineers Committee

The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) formed the Panel Engineers’ Committee (PEC) to serve as a unified voice for engineers appointed to the various panels under the Reservoirs Act. The purposes of the PEC are to provide proactive advice on the best ways to protect the public from the risk of flooding due to dam failure, and to offer feedback, comments, and advice on the implementation of the recommendations from the Independent Reservoir Safety Review Report (the Balmforth Report), published in March 2021, in England and Wales.

The British Dam Society 2025 Photography Competition

Your chance to have your photograph published in the BDS Journal - Dams and Reservoirs, and featured on the BDS website, PLUS prize money for winning entries: 

1st Prize £200; 2nd Prize £100; 3rd Prize £50

The BDS Photography Competition is open to members of the BDS, ICE, Engineering Students and all staff of Corporate BDS members. Photographers are entitled to submit two photographs relating to Dams and Reservoirs. 

Reservoir Safety Reform Programme (release of latest research reports)

The Reservoir Safety Reform Programme has recently made research reports from the hazard classification development project available on Defra Science Search. The first link below provides access to the various reports covering the development of a proposal for hazard classification for reservoir safety in England and Wales. The second report link provides evidence and costs for on-site emergency flood plans for reservoirs in England.

FD2739 - Developing a new hazard classification for Reservoir Safety in England and Wales - FD2739

FD2742 - Evidence on costs and benefits of on-site emergency flood plans for reservoirs - FD2742

Consultation on grant support for initial supervision and inspection in Northern Ireland

The Department for Infrastructure, Northern Ireland, is seeking views on proposals for a grant scheme to support reservoir managers with the initial supervision and inspection requirements of the Reservoirs Act (NI) 2015. Details of the proposals and how to submit your views can be found here.