SevernTrent

Sorry for the delay - yes, you're correct water was going down the spillway but that's obviously a controlled release that's pretty much BAU at this time of year. It would have contributed to river levels but the month's worth of rain in a day would be the factor that made the difference. So a release from Ladybower only comes about if the Environment Agency requests it as it affects the Derwent, which is their responsibility. You'd have to ask the EA what the river was doing and whether it was a viable proposition before Friday. Our role only relates to the res I'm afraid and we wouldn't release withou the EA telling us to do so.

The BBC story was nothing to do with us - they approached us and we tried to talk them out of it as we didn’t want to encourage others to do the same thing.

Hi I'm from Severn Trent and we thought it was important to give you the correct information. The initial premise - that we must have opened Ladybower on Friday is down to a misreading of our figures. A change from -1 (roughly) to -3 is actually an increase in water in Ladybower (as you'd expect with so much rain on the day). Basically, a plus figure means the level is below the overflow (i.e. lower) and a negative one is above overflow (i.e. higher). A higher negative figure means the level is higher above the overflow which, obviously, wouldn't be the case if we'd opened up the dam and released into the Derwent. As you're undoubtedly aware, we only release when asked by the Environment Agency (as they look after the Derwent) and we haven't been asked to do this since early October (i.e. over a month ago). There was no release on Friday. In fact, our teams were out and about over the weekend protecting our own assets (treatment works and pumping stations) from the floodwater, as well as helping emergency services and local councils in the flood relief efforts. I hope this clears things up.

Hi I'm from Severn Trent and I'm afraid that you're misreading our figures. A move from -1 (roughly) to -3 is actually an increase in water levels at the reservoir (as you'd expect when so much rain falls). A plus figure means the level is below the overflow and a negative is above overflow. A higher negative figure means the level is higher above the overflow (i.e. an increase in the amount of water in Ladybower). Had we released water, it would have likely gone from a negative to a positive. It clearly doesn't do this. Just to confirm that we only discharge when asked to by the Environment Agency and we haven't had such a request since early October. We didn't release any water before or during the weekend floods and, in fact, we haven't operated the valves for well over a month. In fact, our teams have been out and about trying to protect our assets from the flooding and helping with the relief efforts where we can. Hopefully that clears things up for you.