§ Mr. Alex CarlileTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many fresh water reservoirs in Wales have been tainted with toxic algae blooms since April; what are the comparable figures for April to June 1991; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesThe National Rivers Authority is engaged in developing action plans to deal with the problem of potentially toxic blue-green algal. The authority first undertook extensive monitoring to identify those lakes and reservoirs at risk of developing toxic blue-green algae blooms. It issued public information leaflets and, when blooms have occurred, gave advice to the owners, water users and local authorities affected. The NRA no longer considers that it needs to undertake routine monitoring and is now concentrating its efforts on a major research programme to develop ways of dealing with blue-green algae. Recent monitoring has focused on those waters not previously sampled or not previously found to have abundant populations of algae but where the presence of algae is now being reported. The data from such monitoring does not therefore provide a comprehensive assessment of the extent of blue-green algae blooms, nor information which is comparable with data collected in previous years.