To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) whether changes have been made in his Department's assessment of future (a) water demand and (b) water resource in (i) Hertfordshire and (ii) the Eastern Region since 2000 as a result of climate change; (209571)

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 both national and regional water resource strategies which set out the pressures over the next 25 years.

Water companies have statutory duties to maintain adequate supplies of water. On 1 April 2007 it became a statutory requirement for water companies to prepare and maintain previously voluntary water resources management plans. These are 25 year plans which complement the Agency strategies and seek to reconcile supply with anticipated demand using the twin-track approach of considering the need for new resources, such as reservoirs, in parallel with the full range of options for reducing demand. New resources should be developed only where the scope for managing demand is clearly insufficient or unjustified in terms of cost.

The planning authorities are statutory consultees on the water company water resources management plans, which means that the water companies can be provided with information on proposed large scale developments in their supply areas. The water companies are also statutory consultees on Regional spatial strategies and local development frameworks, in the East of England and elsewhere, and should work with plan making bodies in drawing up these plans, so that the necessary coordination can occur.

Water companies are currently holding the first public consultations on their draft water resource management plans, providing any interested parties will the opportunity to make representations on the content of the plans. Each water company, in the East of England and elsewhere, has to publish a statement in response to the representation, and if the response is not considered to be adequate the Secretary of State can direct them to make further changes.

The Environment Agency now has Catchment abstraction management strategies (CAMS) in place throughout England and Wales, including the East of England, which provide transparency in the allocation of water resources. CAMS provide a consistent and structured approach to local water resources management, recognising the reasonable needs of all abstractors and the needs of the environment. CAMS enable the consideration of how much water can be abstracted from watercourses without damaging the environment. They will provide more local detail on the availability of water in Hertfordshire and the East of England more generally, and will allow a detailed assessment of where action may be needed to deal with problems of over abstraction.

In October 2007, the Chancellor announced a new Public Service Agreement on climate change. Sustainable abstraction, as measured through the water availability status in catchments, is the chosen indicator of the extent to which we are adapting to climate change. The achievement and maintenance of sustainable abstraction requires that policy is adaptable to changing climatic conditions. This indicator captures efforts to reduce demand and use water efficiently, and long-term planning to ensure resilience of water supply. It reflects the totality of abstraction impacts from local to national level.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the likelihood of drought conditions in Hertfordshire by 2021. (209636)

Based on climate change scenarios derived from Hadley Centre’s Regional Climate Model which suggests that the frequency of ‘short’ droughts, lasting one or two seasons, would increase significantly by the 2050s and be commonplace by the 2080s, it is expected that there will be an increase in the frequency of short droughts in Hertfordshire by 2021. These projections are based on modelling studies that contain inherent uncertainties, meaning that the actual frequency of droughts that will be experienced in future may be more or less than these estimates.

All water companies, including those supplying Hertfordshire, will need to identify measures to increase resilience of water supply against increased frequency of drought in their Water Resources Management Plans, which are currently subject to consultation. These measures should include demand and supply side options to maintain a supply-demand balance.

Water companies have statutory drought plans which set out how a company will meet essential demands for water in times of drought. Drought plans are prepared every three years and are subject to public consultation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what (a) representations he has received on and (b) assessment he has made of the sustainability and acceptability of the abstraction regime in Hertfordshire on summer surface water availability; (209637)

The Environment Agency is the statutory body with a duty to manage water resources in England and Wales. It now has catchment abstraction management strategies (CAMS) in place which provide transparency in the allocation of water resources. CAMS provide a consistent and structured approach to local water resources management, recognising the reasonable needs of all abstractors and the needs of the environment. CAMS enable the consideration of how much water can be abstracted from watercourses without damaging the environment. They provide local detail on the availability of water and allow a detailed assessment of where action may be needed to deal with problems of over abstraction.

The first set of CAMS has been completed and information on water resources in Hertfordshire and the east of England can be found on the Environment Agency website. I am not aware of representations having been made to the Secretary of State on the results of the relevant CAMS documents.

The CAMS process is currently being reviewed. The new process should strengthen links with other water resources initiatives to improve water management in the future.

The expansion of Abberton reservoir is the subject of an application for planning permission to the relevant planning authority. Should the reservoir be expanded, then the potential use of its water in Hertfordshire will be a matter for the water company operating the reservoir and the water companies supplying Hertfordshire.

The Secretary of State has designated all water companies serving Hertfordshire as operating in areas of serious water stress, for the purposes of accelerating domestic metering of water supply where there is a resources case to do so. This designation allows the companies concerned to make a case for compulsory metering in the water resources management plans. Where the Secretary of State agrees the case has been made, then the companies will be allowed to pursue a programme of compulsory metering.