Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) the process is and (b) permissions required are for a reservoir to be drained.

No legal requirements exist to drain a reservoir under the Reservoirs Act 1975.

However, the operator should inform the reservoir ‘Supervising Engineer’ to oversee the process.

An Environmental Permit issued by the Environment Agency may be required by an operator ahead of draining a reservoir. This is dependent on site specific issues, the type of release and whether fish may need to be removed.

Emptying a reservoir does not decommission it and the operator’s legal responsibilities under the Act still apply.