Dear Sir or Madam,

How many Flood Storage Areas are owned, managed or operated by the
Environment Agency within the United Kingdom?

How many of these Flood Storage Areas have unrestricted slipways
that ensure that any overtopping floodwater in not impeded?

How many Flood Storage Areas that have restricted overtopping
spillways are restricted by design?

(Research indicates that a flood storage area has a ‘normal’
unrestricted flow, above which rate the water is restricted by a
dam and held within a pond. If, under exceptional circumstances,
the pond becomes full, the water overspills the dam. This overspill
water is normally unrestricted and may lead to flooding further
downstream. Some Flood Storage Areas have a restricted overspill
designed to cause flooding upstream of the dam, as a measure to
prevent flooding further downstream. I am trying to establish how
many Flood Storage Areas are constructed to cause upstream flooding
in an attempt to reduce downstream flooding)

Yours faithfully,

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But my e-mail refers to an Environmental Incident, won't it get answered
sooner?

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Dear G N Hawkes

Thank you for your enquiry regarding your freedom of information
request. For your information, your query has been passed to our Freedom
of Information Team for attention and they will be in touch with you
shortly.

Kind Regards

Cathy Baker
National Customer Contact Centre
Environment Agency
08708 506506

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Dear GN Hawkes,

Please find attached a response to your request for information about the
flood storage reservoirs that the Environment Agency manages. Please also
note the attached Standard Notice (Non-commercial) which sets out your
rights to use the information provided in the response.

Regards

Jackie Banks
National Technical Manager, Asset System Management & Enforcement,
Flood Risk Management
Environment Agency
Riversmeet House
Tewkesbury
Glos GL20 8JG

Dear Banks, Jackie,

Thank you for the information relating to Flood Storage Areas in
England and Wales.

The second part of my question asked 'How many of these Flood
Storage Areas have unrestricted slipways that ensure that any
overtopping floodwater in not impeded?'. This question was not
answered.

The third part of my question asked 'How many Flood Storage Areas
that have restricted overtopping spillways are restricted by
design?'. Again, this question was not answered.

I appreciate the information about general design principles, but I
require information about the actual implementations in place.

Yours sincerely,

Gareth Hawkes

Dear Mr Hawkes,

This response should be read in conjunction with my earlier response of
20 August 2008 to your query.

I confirm that all of the overflow spillways on all of the Flood Storage
Reservoirs managed by the Environment Agency are unrestricted so that
they do not impede overtopping floodwater.

I assume from the remainder of your query that the word "slipways" in
question 2 of your query was a typing error and that you meant
spillways, however if I have misunderstood please let me know.

Please note the attached Standard Notice (Non-commercial) which sets out
your rights to use the information provided in the response.

Regards

Jackie Banks
National Technical Manager, Asset System Management & Enforcement,
Flood Risk Management
Environment Agency
Riversmeet House
Tewkesbury
Glos GL20 8JG

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Dear Banks, Jackie,

Thank you once again for your information,

However, I know of one exception to you statement.

Can you confirm that the Dorcan Flood Storage Area, in the Thames
Area, is the only Flood Storgage, managed by the Environment Agency
that has a resticted overflow spillway that impedes overtopping
floodwater.

Yours sincerely,

Gareth Hawkes

Dear Mr Hawkes,

Thank you for your e-mail. I have passed it to Neil Harding who is the
Reservoirs Act Co-ordinator for our Thames Region and he will be
responding to you direct on this matter.

Regards

Jackie Banks
National Technical Manager, Asset System Management & Enforcement,
Flood Risk Management
Environment Agency
Riversmeet House
Tewkesbury
Glos GL20 8JG

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Dear Mr Hawkes

Firstly let me confirm that the previous responses you have received to
your enquiry have been in respect of those large raised reservoirs
managed by the Environment Agency and which fall within the scope of the
Reservoirs Act 1975. The flood storage area that you refer to in Dorcan
does not fall under the Reservoirs Act 1975 but is managed by the
Environment Agency.

Turning specifically to the flood storage area at Dorcan I confirm that
it has a spillway and the purpose of that spillway is to convey excess
flows over the embankment of the flood storage area in a controlled
manner. The spillway acts to control the level at which flood waters
overflow from the flood storage area at a designed level. The spillway
at Dorcan FSA was protected by a trash screen. The upper part of that
trash screen, the part which stopped debris blocking the spillway, has
recently been removed after consideration of the risk of it becoming an
impediment to flow over the spillway if it becomes blocked. As a
consequence the likelihood of the screen becoming choked with debris has
also been removed. I also confirm that, following your previous
enquiries regarding Dorcan FSA with my colleague Mr van Someren a
feasibility study is planned to be completed at the end of November and
will consider the viable options to improve the spillway based on the
results from modelling investigations.

Neil Harding
Reservoirs Act Co-ordinator - Thames Region
Asset Systems Management
Flood Risk Management
NE Area, Thames Region
Internal 7 25 2347
External 01707 632347
[mobile number]
Email [email address]
please consider the environment - do you really need to print this
email?

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Dear harding, Neil,

Thank you for responding and clarifying that previous answers have
been inaccurate.

I will re-ask the original question submitted under the Freedom of
information act.

How many Flood Storage Areas are owned, managed or operated by the
Environment Agency within the United Kingdom? Please include all
flood storage areas, not just those covered by the Reservoirs Act.

How many of these Flood Storage Areas have unrestricted spillways
that ensure that any overtopping floodwater in not impeded?

How many Flood Storage Areas that have restricted overtopping
spillways that are restricted by design? Such as Dorcan, which
currently has a restricted overspill, and an adjacent road bridge
designed to restrict total flow of water.

Yours sincerely,

G N Hawkes

I am currently out of the office until the 15 September. If the matter is
urgent please contact me on my mobile number 0790 442 7397

Information in this message may be confidential and may be legally
privileged. If you have received this message by mistake, please notify
the sender immediately, delete it and do not copy it to anyone else.

We have checked this email and its attachments for viruses. But you should
still check any attachment before opening it.

We may have to make this message and any reply to it public if asked to
under the Freedom of Information Act, Data Protection Act or for
litigation. Email messages and attachments sent to or from any
Environment Agency address may also be accessed by someone other than the
sender or recipient, for business purposes.

If we have sent you information and you wish to use it please read our
terms and conditions which you can get by calling us on 08708 506 506.
Find out more about the Environment Agency at
[1]www.environment-agency.gov.uk

World Environment Day 2008 - Time for a new routine. Take part in our
campaign by telling us what one thing you will do to stand up to climate
change. Visit our website to tell us and find out more:
[2]www.environment-agency.gov.uk/wed

References

Visible links
1. http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/
2. http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/wed

Dear Mr Hawkes

Your enquiry has been noted and a response will be provided in due
course. Please await further communication from us on this subject.

Regards

Neil Harding
Reservoirs Act Co-ordinator - Thames Region
Asset Systems Management
Flood Risk Management
NE Area, Thames Region
Internal 7 25 2347
External 01707 632347
[mobile number]
Email [email address]
please consider the environment - do you really need to print this
email?

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[Subject only] FW: Freedom Of Information request

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Dear Mr Hawkes,

In order to properly respond to your request for information about our
flood storage areas I will need some clarification from yourself. This is
set out on the attached. Once I have you clarification I will be able to
advise you further.

Yours sincerely

Dave Denness
Technical Manager (Acting)
Asset Management

7 50 4358

01733 464358

Information in this message may be confidential and may be legally
privileged. If you have received this message by mistake, please notify
the sender immediately, delete it and do not copy it to anyone else.

We have checked this email and its attachments for viruses. But you should
still check any attachment before opening it.

We may have to make this message and any reply to it public if asked to
under the Freedom of Information Act, Data Protection Act or for
litigation. Email messages and attachments sent to or from any
Environment Agency address may also be accessed by someone other than the
sender or recipient, for business purposes.

If we have sent you information and you wish to use it please read our
terms and conditions which you can get by calling us on 08708 506 506.
Find out more about the Environment Agency at
[1]www.environment-agency.gov.uk

References

Visible links
1. http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/

Dear Denness, Dave,

I am happy to be provided with information relating to England and
Wales.

I am asking for information about purposely built and maintained
structures.

The research I refer to is research I have conducted myself. The
descriptions are about ‘showcase’ Environment Agency flood storage
areas systems. The description of these FSAs always stress that
overtopping water is unrestricted. These documents are Palmer’s Dam
on the Harbourne, Loughton Brook Flood Alleviation Scheme, and
there are others. The last page of the Loughton Brook document
describes how flood alleviation schemes work.

Information supplied by the Environment Agency indicates that the
DAM at the Dorcan Flood Storage Area has an overtopping restriction
by design. Overflow is certainly restricted by its construction. I
want to know if this is the only FSA DAM constructed in a manner
that causes upstream flooding due to the construction of the
system. Previous attempts by yourselves to answer my question have
stated that this FSA is being reviewed, but I want to know the
number of FSAs that are built in a similar manner.

If Dorcan FSA is ‘normal’, that can be established if, say 50% of
the FSAs in the Severn region have restricted overtopping by
design. If there are no FSAs in the Severn region with restricted
overtopping by design, then it will look like Dorcan is abnormal. I
appreciate that you have cost implications, so information from one
team may determine the trend for the country. If you proceed on
this basis, all I ask is that you do not sample one of the Thames
teams.

I hope that this provides you with sufficient information to
process my request.

Yours sincerely,

G N Hawkes

Dear Mr Hawkes,

Thank you for your clarifications. I have asked colleagues in Midlands
Region to supply the relevant information. There are several area teams
in Midlands Region so the answers should be better representative of
whole of England and Wales than approaching a singe team would be.

I expect to receive their information early in week commencing 27th
October so that I can respond to you by Friday 31st October. I hope this
is acceptable.

Yours sincerely

Dave Denness
Technical Manager (Acting)
Asset Management

7 50 4358

01733 464358

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Hawkes,

Please see the attached, which provides the information that you
requested.

Yours sincerely

Dave Denness

Technical Advisor - Technical Development

Asset Management

7 50 4358

01733 464358

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