§ LORD O'HAGANasked Her Majesty's Government:
What steps are being taken to improve the future water supplies of the 592WA United Kingdom by barrages, desalination and other long-term measures?
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT (LORD SANDFORD)The type of long-term measures to which I believe the noble Lord refers are the subject of several research and development programmes already in progress. The Water Resources Board are nearing the end of a full feasibility study of a Morecambe Bay barrage, and their report on a desk study of a Wash barrage is expected shortly. An evaluation is now being made of a pilot freezing desalination plant, and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority's current research programme also covers the application of desalination processes to effluent treatment. This is important as regards the re-use of water. The use of groundwater for river regulation is the subject of two major studies by the Thames Conservancy and by the Great Ouse River Authority. The Water Resources Board are financing several studies and pilot schemes on the artificial recharge of underground aquifers, notably as part of the Trent Study.
House adjourned at twenty-one minutes past eleven o'clock.