§ Dr. BrandTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the specialist hydrography departments which were consulted by the National Rivers Authority in formulating the recommendations on areas of high natural dispersion in 1994. [28490]
§ Angela Eagle[holding answer 10 February 1998]: The National Rivers Authority (now subsumed into the Environment Agency), made recommendations on areas of high natural dispersion (HNDAs) according to criteria agreed by Government and the water industry regulators.
The Environment Agency, as the primary regulatory body, itself has considerable expertise in the field of hydrography. In formulating recommendations on HNDAs, it drew on information (including hydrodynamic modelling data for a significant proportion of the UK's coastline) available from internationally accredited research organisations such as Delft Hydraulics, MAFF/CEFAS, Water Research Centre, Hydraulics Research Wallingford and relevant university departments.