§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research he has carried out to determine which rivers in(a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Scotland have flood conditions which exceed (i) 10 ft and (ii) 15 ft above low water level, at the frequencies of (1) one in 10 years, (2) one in 50 years, (3) one in 100 years, (4) one in 200 years and (5) one in 500 years; and where information arising from such research has been published. [142030]
§ Mr. MorleyFlood defence is a devolved responsibility. I am not aware of any research that has been undertaken to provide the information sought on a consolidated basis for rivers in England. Depth of potential flooding is highly variable even within an individual river catchment, as it depends on the flow and the degree to which it is confined or controlled. However, where schemes for flood alleviation or management are proposed, a significant part of the investigation is the derivation of such information on a site-specific basis.