Toddbrook: Anglian Water's response to the incident

Abstract

Anglian Water is the undertaker for 44 large raised reservoirs which fall under the Reservoir Act 1975. The reservoirs are located within the East of England between the River Humber to the north and the River Thames to the south. Anglian Water's reservoirs are predominantly filled by pumping and consequently have small natural catchments. On 1 August 2019 a major incident was declared at Toddbrook reservoir, owned by the Canal & River Trust, and parts of Whaley Bridge, Furness Vale and New Mills were evacuated; 1500 residents were moved to safety after concrete slabs on the dam spillway partially collapsed following days of torrential rain. The Environment Agency (EA) issued a ‘danger to life’ warning in the area due to the possibility of the dam collapsing. Following the incident a review of Anglian Water reservoirs was undertaken to assess them. This paper describes the work undertaken by Anglian Water directly in response to the Toddbrook incident. This comprised an initial review of Anglian Water's reservoirs and then more detailed analyses for those reservoirs assessed to have greatest similarities to Toddbrook.