HL Deb 13 June 1989 vol 508 cc1409-10WA
Lord Kennet

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have completed their studies of rising groundwater under London and whether the water companies when privatised will be responsible for (a) monitoring and (b) controlling the rise.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Hesketh)

The Minister for Water and Planning welcomed, in another place on 23rd May, the research report on the engineering implications of rising groundwater levels in the deep aquifer beneath London which was published by the Construction Industry Research and Information Association on that day. He said that his Department, which was one of the sponsors of the research, was examining the report's conclusions and recommendations carefully. He added that the National Rivers Authority Advisory Committee had been asked to arrange for the National Rivers Authority, when it is established, to undertake the monitoring and predictive modelling of the water levels and the publication of the results; to examine the potential for increasing water abstractions from the aquifer below London; and to examine the feasibility and costs of a permanent dewatering scheme.