§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether it is their policy, and if so what measures they propose, to encourage winter storage rather than abstraction from boreholes or summer abstraction from rivers of water for agricultural irrigation.
Earl FerrersHer Majesty's Government support the construction of on-farm winter storage reservoirs, where this is possible, as a means of securing adequate supplies of water for agricultural use. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has produced a leaflet containing a detailed step by step guide to planning, constructing and operating such reservoirs. The Environment Agency encourages winter storage of water by farmers, particularly through its abstraction charging scheme under which, for any given source and purpose, abstraction confined to the winter months is charged at one tenth of the rate for abstraction in summer.