§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent assessment he has made of the impact on wildlife of the present abstraction levels from rivers; and if he will make a statement. [50933]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Environment Agency is responsible for licensing water abstraction in England and Wales, a function it exercises in conjunction with its other statutory duties which include the conservation of flora and fauna which are dependent on an aquatic environment. In its May 1998 submission to the Government entitledA Price Worth Paying, which is in the Library of the House, the Agency, in consultation with English Nature and the Countryside Council of Wales, has listed sites which are considered to be affected by abstractions. A number of these sites are designated for their international importance for birds or other wildlife. We shall take the Agency's advice on these sites into account in determining the guidance we give to the Director General of Water Services on the environmental obligations which water companies will be expected to meet through the Periodic Review of water prices.