To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the reservoir capacity in England and Wales was in (a) 1989 and (b) January 2009. (268944)

The reservoir capacity in 1989 cannot be calculated without incurring disproportionate cost.

The total capacity of water company reservoirs in England and Wales which fall under the Reservoirs Act 1975 (large raised reservoirs with a capacity of 25,000 cu m of water or more above natural ground level) was around 2,316 million cu m in January 2009.