To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what research is being done or has been commissioned by his Department in respect of surface water quality.

We have let the following research contracts since 1 November 1988 concerning surface water quality:

Estimation of contaminant loads in rivers;

Strategic river eco-system studies;

Aerial inputs to the Severn Estuary;

Effects of the Kielder reservoir on the River North Tyne;

Health effects of sea bathing;

Analysis of technazene and its breakdown products;

Effect of sediment metals on estuarine benthic organisms;

Biological effects of contaminants workshop;

Fish farm chemicals in sea locks;

Diffuse pollution from land-use practices; and Sediment water contaminant exchange.