Each year Flood Action Week seeks to encourage individuals, communities and businesses to take steps to prepare for flooding. One way we support those at risk to do this is through our dedicated Emergency Planning services and training exercises. During this year’s Flood Action Week campaign, we’re facilitating a table-top exercise at Chasewater Reservoir in Staffordshire to test using the site's emergency flood plan in the event of an emerging dam breach.
A bespoke exercise to validate the on-site emergency flood plan, enhance understanding and identify areas for improvement
Table-top exercises provide a valuable opportunity to test plans, improve understanding of roles and responsibilities and validate the effectiveness of procedures without the need to deploy staff and equipment on-site. For this training we have designed a table-top exercise, tailored to test the use of the on-site emergency plan in response to a potential dam breach incident alongside multi-agency partners and contractors. This includes representatives from Staffordshire County Council, Amey, the Canal and River Trust, Staffordshire Civil Contingencies Unit and Pioneer Pump Solutions.
The group discussion-based exercise will be centred around a realistic evolving scenario that requires a response from operational, tactical and strategic staff. The scenario will allow participants to logically work through the emerging threats to ensure that the on-site plan is usable, relevant and an effective way of identifying and addressing risks. It will also help participants to improve awareness of their roles and responsibilities and communications pathways. Critically, by bringing together different organisations, the exercise will also strengthen joint working practices to aid a more effective response during a real-life incident.
The exercise will conclude with a full debrief from our Emergency Planning team. This essential phase provides a chance to discuss how the on-site emergency plan can be improved, and to identify wider lessons that can be learnt and acted upon. Once updated, the revised plan will be further tested via a full simulation and pump deployment in Spring 2026. This exercise will again be designed and facilitated by JBA and will involve deployment of staff and equipment in response to a realistic emerging threat.
On-site emergency plans for reservoirs are a legal requirement for all large-raised reservoirs under the Reservoirs Act 1975. To ensure compliance, emergency plans must be certified by an appointed supervising engineer at least every five years. It is also a legal requirement for reservoir owners to test their on-site emergency flood plan in line with the appointed engineer’s directions.
Supporting public and private sector clients to identify their risks, plan mitigation actions and develop emergency plans
Alongside the design and implementation of table-top and full simulation exercises, we also provide a range of reservoir emergency planning services. Through our combined experience in engineering, flood resilience and emergency planning, we apply our in-depth understanding of reservoir risks and mitigation options to help responders align with national guidance and best practice.
To date we have developed and reviewed more than 150 on-site emergency flood plans and supported clients in both the public and private sectors across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands through our range of Emergency Planning services. These services include:
- Development, review and certification of on-site emergency plans
- Development of off-site flood plans for reservoirs
- Design and facilitation of table-top and full simulation exercises
- Training on writing and testing flood plans
- Emergency response and incident support
- Reservoir surveillance training.
We also run a dedicated Reservoir Emergency Planning training course, designed for reservoir owners and managers, current and prospective reservoir panel engineers and those involved in developing and testing reservoir emergency plans. This course covers essential emergency planning principles, flood plan development and review, and also details how to plan and test emergency plans. For more information, including upcoming course dates, click here.
For more information about our reservoir emergency planning training and exercising, or our wider services in this area, please contact Toby Jones, Emergency Planning Lead.
