19th July 2010: ENVIRONMENT AGENCY ISSUE DRAINAGE CONSENT TO ALLOW EMPTYING OF RESERVOIR.

In a disappointing, but not unexpected development, the Environment Agency today issued a drainage consent which will enable Western Power to drain the remaining water from Llanishen Reservoir.  The documents outlining their decision can be accessed by clicking here.  It appears that the Environment Agency can only refuse to grant a drainage consent if there are concerns that the draw down of water will result in a pollution incident, and Western Power have clearly convinced them that this is unlikely to happen.  The Environment Agency have written to Western Power emphasising that the reservoir does not need to be drained to carry out the required safety inspections, but Western Power appear to be cynically exploiting the 1975 Reservoir Act to achieve their aim of emptying the reservoir.  It will take up to 10 years to refill using rainwater alone, and other reservoir engineers have suggested that there is a real risk that the embankments will dry out during this period causing the waterproofing clay core of the reservoir to crack.  The unnecessary drainage on the pretext of a safety inspection will therefore result in a real risk to reservoir safety.