HC Deb 19 April 2004 vol 420 cc161-3W
Sue Doughty

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact of climate change on the quantities of water that may be sustainably abstracted over the next 50 years. [165303]

Mr. Morley

The Environment Agency is the statutory body with a duty to manage water resources in England and Wales. As part of the agency's management role it has national and regional water resource strategies which set out the pressures over the next 25 years. Water companies have 25-year water resource plans which complement the agency strategies. Both the plans and strategies factor in the effects of climate change and will develop over time as the implications become clearer. The plans will also identify where there is a need for development of new resources.

The Environment Agency's Catchment Abstraction Management Strategies (CAMS are a mechanism to ensure that there is a sustainable balance, at the catchment level, between the needs of abstractors and

Annual mean flows (cubic metres per second) between 1994 and 2003 at all Environmental Change Network freshwater river sites in England.
Site Name 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Eden (Cumbria) 17.4 13.3 8.7 12.2 16.9 16.3 20.4 11.5 18.3
Esk 4.4 4.2 3.9 4.0 7.9 6.2 7.9 6.2 4.7
Coquet 7.4 6.9 6.6 6.7 11.7 8.2 11.9 10.4
Exe 22.2 16.0 14.4 21.5 14.3
Lathkill 1.0 1.7 1.5 2.0
Cringle 0.4 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.5
Frome 8.0 4.9 5.4 4.9 8.0
Bradgate Brook 0.2 0.2
Stinchar 11.2 12.5 9.0 11.1
Coln 2.5
Lambourn 2.0
Ewe 31.6 31.2 21.2 27.0 34.3 34.7 31.0 24.3 24.0
Moor House—Upper Teesdale 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.6
Wytham 0.001 0.000 0.001 0.001

Bob Spink

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made in reducing water leakage; and if she will make a statement. [165378]

Mr. Morley

Since the Water Summit in 1997, Ofwat has set water companies annual leakage targets. This has helped to achieve a significant reduction in leakage, from 4,505 Megalitres per day in 1996–97 to 3,623 Megalitres per day in 2002–03. Most companies are now at their economic level of leakage which is the level at

the environment. Pressures on water resources, such as climate change, are taken into consideration in the CAMS process and the agency will be able to use its powers to rebalance water resources as necessary.

The 2002 UK Climate Impacts Programme scenarios suggest higher winter flows and lower summer flows, with more frequent summer droughts over the next 50 years. The Environment Agency and water companies have carried out a preliminary assessment which suggests that the impact of these changes on abstraction for the public supply is mixed. Further work on this is due to start in the next few months.

Norman Baker

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on average water flow data between 1994 and 2003 at sites operated by the Environmental Change Network. [165797]

Mr. Morley

The Environmental Change Network (ECN) is the UK's long-term integrated monitoring network designed to aid in the detection, interpretation and forecasting of environmental changes resulting from natural and human causes. It is a multi-agency initiative which currently consists of a network of 54 terrestrial and freshwater sites making regular measurements on the main drivers of change and ecosystem responses.

Annual water flow from ECN's 14 river sites in England is shown in the following table. The data are incomplete for the requested period because: (i) some river sites did not begin monitoring until after 1994; (ii) equipment faults sometimes resulted in too few data points to allow estimation of annual means; and (iii) some data towards the end of the period have not yet been incorporated in the ECN database.

which it would cost more to further reduce leakage than to supply additional water from other sources. The Director General of Water Services publishes leakage data annually in the 'Security of Supply, Leakage and the Efficient Use of Water' reports, copies of which are available in the Library of the House. The Government's approach to demand management was confirmed by my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State in March 2004 in her Principal Guidance to the Director-General of Water Services.

Bob Spink

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of households have water meters; and if she will make a statement. [165375]

Mr. Morley

An estimated 24 per cent. of households in England and Wales received bills based upon a meter reading in 2003–04, this is predicted to rise to 26 per cent. in 2004–05.

There are no figures available for the number of households where a meter is present but is not used as the basis for charging.

Bob Spink

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what monitoring of water quality is being undertaken by the National Rivers Authority. [164204]

Mr. Morley

Since 1996, responsibility for monitoring water quality has been with the Environment Agency. The Agency routinely monitors over 7000 sites in the aquatic environment. The Agency's programmes cover all monitoring required by EU Directives, national and international commitments, national and regional operational needs, responses to pollution incidents and regulation of authorised discharges to water. The programmes cover a wide range of chemical parameters plus routine biological monitoring for the purposes of both assessing compliance with standards and general assessments of environmental quality. The Agency's programmes cover both freshwaters i.e. rivers, lakes and groundwaters and the estuarine and marine environment.

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