The British Dam Society exists to advance the education of the public and the profession in technical subjects relating to planning, design, construction, maintenance, operation, safety, environmental and social issues.
At a National level BDS organises:
- Programme of London and regional meetings
- BDS Conference and Geoffrey Binnie Lecture, held biennially
- Dams & Reservoirs, the journal of the British Dam Society published three times a year
- The BDS prize for young engineers, held biennially
- The Supervising Engineers Forum, held biennially
- Bateman Award for written paper, held annually
- Access to its own website
At an international level BDS: Acts as the United Kingdom National Committee of ICOLD (UKCOLD) and is active in:
- Technical committees producing bulletins
- ICOLD Annual meetings
- ICOLD Congress every three years
At a European level BDS: is active on most of the European Working Groups.