Safety works at Victorian reservoir approved

Safety works designed to prevent homes from being flooded if a Victorian dam fails will begin in the new year on the Isle of Man.

The project at Kionslieu Reservoir, near Foxdale, will see the upgrading of the walls of the structure, bank reshaping, and the installation of new pipes and an overflow system.

Expected to cost about £2.4m, the work will allow the water level at the reservoir to be increased, the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (Defa) said.

Levels were lowered in 2019 after a report said the structure was at "unacceptably high risk of failure, posing a risk to life in the downstream communities".

Originally built to support mining in the area, the basin of the dam contains contaminated sediments and is not part of the drinking network.

However the surrounding area is used for recreation.

Defa Minister Clare Barber said the plans, which would also see the creation of new access points on Lhoobs Road and East Foxdale Road, would secure the reservoir's future "for generations to come" by "strengthening dam stability, improving flood management, and protecting its environmental and recreational value".

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