British Water

Abstract Chlorophyll is a natural coloring extract used extensively in the food and pharmaceutical industries. In Europe, most chlorophyll is produced commercially from rainfed grassland production in eastern England. This paper describes a biogeochemical modeling study to assess the potential yield benefits associated with switching from rainfed to irrigated production. The research is in response the impacts of recent summer droughts on yield coupled with risks regarding climate change, rainfall reliability and long‐term viability of rainfed production. The Denitrification‐Decomposition model was calibrated and validated using multiple field data (n = 47) from 2000 to 2009 for a tall fescue grass (Festuca arundinacea) to simulate a range of irrigation and fertilizer management regimes on yield (annual and individual yield per cut). For chlorophyll production, a schedule combining 300 mm year−1 irrigation with 300 kg N ha−1 was shown to provide the highest average yield (an uplift of +62% above current levels). Switching from rainfed to irrigated production could also potentially halve (54%) current levels of fertilizer application. The implications for reducing environmental impacts from nitrate leaching are discussed.

Reservoirs are high-risk assets and modern legislation requires that all reservoirs meet the highest current standards in respect of reservoir safety. British Waterways is responsible for a large number of reservoirs up to 240 years old, far older than the UK average. This paper discusses works carried out by British Waterways at reservoirs in the north-west of England between 2006 and 2010 to achieve this objective. The reservoirs are described and the works are grouped into the themes of spillways, freeboard, outlets, dam stability and emergency planning. The procedures for prioritising the works and selecting the most appropriate technical solution are considered.

This year's Supervising Engineers' forum was once again held at the Manchester Conference Centre. As always the forum was well supported with over 200 attendees. The speakers' affiliations were spread throughout those concerned with dam and reservoir safety, including consulting engineers, the enforcement authorities, undertakers and product suppliers. All the presentations resulted in much discussion and debate. A number of the presentation will be included as full papers in future issues of Dams and Reservoirs.

The pre-conference tour prior to the 2008 British Dam Society conference in Warwick was to Earlswood and Rotton Park reservoirs, canal reservoirs built in the early 19th century. British Waterways, the undertaker for these reservoirs, is responsible for 3200 km of canal and river navigations in England, Wales and Scotland. Ninety reservoirs provide the water needed for lockage, evaporation and seepage losses. Rotton Park reservoir was constructed by Thomas Telford in 1827 as part of a comprehensive series of improvements to the Birmingham Canal. It continues to be used for canal water supply purposes.

Abstract British Waterways (BW) is the largest navigation authority in the UK, managing a network of 3200 km of inland waterway. Central to this function is the management of a complex water supply system, where water is transferred for resource management, to maintain navigation and for sale to third parties. The navigations also provide land drainage, with 30% of the English and Welsh catchments draining, into the network. Understanding the hydraulic mechanisms present is essential to manage the risks to infrastructure, land, property and personnel. This paper describes studies that have reduced the uncertainty of the hydraulic appraisals of canals. A programme of primary research included site surveys, hydraulic trials and modelling. Hydraulic roughnesses for a range of canal channel types were derived and the impact of structures was quantified. The paper then applies these findings to investigate a recent canal breach. Importantly, in terms of the hydraulic appraisal, pound water levels and flows were automatically monitored throughout the event. The breach was modelled via an innovative dual weir approach. The modelled water level drawdown compared very closely with that measured. In conclusion, this paper illustrates the major steps forward that BW has made in developing the understanding of canal hydraulics and breach failures. This paper is of interest to consultants, researchers and other workers who study canal hydraulics and flood risk throughout the UK and overseas.

The 56 km Forth & Clyde ship canal across Scotland set a new international standard for inland waterways when completed in 1790. Linking Glasgow and the Irish Sea in the west to Falkirk and the North Sea in the east, it was joined in 1822 to Edinburgh by the 50 km Union Canal. But, as traffic moved to rail and then road, the waterway fell into disuse and eventually closed in the 1960s—though it soon became apparent that reopening it for recreational use was vital to regenerating this strategic national corridor. With National Lottery funding, the £78 million Millennium Link scheme—including a spectacular rotating boat lift at Falkirk—is at last underway and set for completion in 2001. This paper reports on the historical, planning and environmental aspects of this landmark regeneration project.

This paper applies the Hicks model of sustainable income to that part of the UK waterways system administered by British Waterways. The model stresses the need to maintain intact the overall capital stock and examines the implications of this principle for the funding of the system and for its administration. A case study of a critical component in the system, the Bittell Reservoirs in North Worcestershire, demonstrates the implications of lack of funding for future sustainability, both in terms of ‘keeping the boats moving’ and in terms of the ecological, recreational and heritage value of the site. The Hicksian model is particularly apposite to the application of an admittedly loose concept (sustainability) to a situation where there is a reasonably clearly defined capital stock. Where such a stock is under threat, the focus placed on to translating ‘income’ into ‘revenue’ highlights key issues of policy in preventing further deterioration of an important national asset. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.