§ 3.22 p.m.
§ The Earl of ONSLOWMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
The Question was as follows:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether it is in line with their policy for land use to allow the Severn-Trent Water Authority to flood 700 acres of farm land at Carsington at the same time as the Anglian Water Authority is lowering the levels at Empingham reservoir 50 miles away thus creating up to 1,600 acres of mud flats.
§ Lord MOWBRAY and STOURTONMy Lords, this is not a matter of policy. The Severn-Trent Water Authority were authorised to build Carsington reservoir by the Secretary of State for the Environment in the previous Administration. The reservoir is required to meet the estimated future needs for water in the Leicester and Nottingham areas. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for the Environment confirmed the previous decision. The decision by the Anglian Water Authority to stop pumping water into the Empingham reservoir which, I understand, is nearly full, is for the authority to take. They will be saving a considerable sum of money by doing so. However, the authority will review the situation again over the next few months.
§ The Earl of ONSLOWMy Lords, is my noble friend aware that the Central 1396 Water Planning Unit advocated in 1976 at the public inquiry that water from Empingham, where the Anglian Water Authority have overestimated their demand by something like 30 per cent., should be made available to the Leicester area, and that regarding the reservoir at Carsington, the river Dove should take its place? This suggestion fell through because the Anglian Water Authority insisted on a capital charge for their reservoir as opposed to straightforward extraction costs.
§ Lord MOWBRAY and STOURTONMy Lords, I am not sure whether the noble Lord is making statements to me or asking questions. If he is making statements, I do not agree with them. What I can tell the House is that although there is a surplus of water at the moment at Empingham, there need not be a surplus if the Anglian Water Authority do not pump all the time. They can save £300,000 in one year.
As to the prospect of whether they should pump water to the Nottingham-Leicester area, where there is going to be a grave shortage of water in the future, to do so would take over two years, getting the wayleaves and the pipes put in, and would cost about £10 million. By five or six years on it would still not be giving enough water, because Empingham could not do that even if fully pumped up. The Carsington reservoir is a long-term necessity. When I say "long-term", I mean within this decade.
§ The Earl of ONSLOWMy Lords, could the noble Lord give us the water forecast needs for the Severn-Trent Water Authority as produced by Carsington and the equivalent pump down at Empingham? Can he also show how much water could or could not be saved by metering?
§ Lord MOWBRAY and STOURTONMy Lords, the cost of the temporary job will be about £10 million. The cost of the permanent one will be about £30 million. As the £10 million will be wasted in a few years' time because it will not do the job anyhow, surely it is better to do the long-term project.
§ Lord LEATHERLANDMy Lords, I did not hear the Minister comment on 1397 that part of the Question which talks about the creation of 1,600 acres of mudflats. Perhaps the noble Lord will enlighten us on this matter. What do the Government intend to do with the flats? Will the Government bear in mind that such mudflats are admirable for the growing of rice?
§ Lord MOWBRAY and STOURTONMy Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Leatherland, slightly followed my noble friend's original Question. The fact is that Empingham reservoir is very big, about 3,100 acres. If the Anglian Water Authority did not pump for one year, it is estimated that the acreage which would become dry might be some 600 acres round the circumference of that area of 3,100 acres. That could be topped up. There is no reason for it to have mud-flats. Water in reservoirs goes up and down, and reservoirs do not become mudflats.
§ Baroness STEDMANMy Lords, is the noble Lord aware that when this reservoir was first contemplated there was considerable local opposition to the size of the reservoir and the fact that round its edges it was so shallow that there was likely to be a considerable loss from evaporation? Is he aware that the same opposition is now being aroused locally at the thought of having the mudflats referred to by his noble friend?
§ Lord MOWBRAY and STOURTONMy Lords, I am reassuring the noble Baroness that there will not be the mud-flats. The water will not go down at once. It will be a steady going down while the sun is out and the banks dry.
§ Lord BALFOUR of INCHRYEMy Lords, if the arguments that the Minister puts forward are so powerful and confound Lord Onslow's Question, what is the review which he has said is still to take place going to cover?
§ Lord MOWBRAY and STOURTONMy Lords, the Anglian Water Authority are an independent water authority. They have not been pumping since the beginning of this financial year. However, they could decide in July, when they have their next meeting to discuss this matter, to start pumping again for one or two 1398 months. They are their own authority. There is a saving if they do not pump and there is a surplus of water at Empingham at the moment, but, I repeat, not enough to fill the long-term needs of the Severn-Trent.