Oliver Heald (North East Hertfordshire, Conservative)
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make an assessment of the effect on angling of river conditions in chalk streams; and if she will make a statement.
Richard Benyon (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Natural Environment and Fisheries), Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Newbury, Conservative)
Healthy chalk streams need enough water of the right quality together with suitable habitats to ensure productive angling.
Across England there is a lot to do as only a quarter of chalk streams are currently regarded as-healthy according to the water framework directive (WFD). Making the required improvements to address the impacts of land use, abstraction, urbanisation and diffuse pollution will require concerted action by statutory organisations and others including water companies and fishery owners.
In the long-term, Restoring Sustainable Abstraction (RSA) and the Periodic Review of Water Companies are some of the programmes that the Environment Agency (EA) and Ofwat are implementing. Additionally, the WFD is driving extensive work programs to deliver sustainable river restoration which will directly benefit our lakes and rivers. In the Water White Paper, due in the autumn, we are looking to make some changes which will improve the efficiency of the RSA programme. We will also provide more details on our plans to reform the abstraction management system to provide clearer signals to abstractors to make the necessary investments to meet water needs and protect ecosystem functioning.
2011 has been an exceptionally dry year so far; the EA is watching the situation carefully to ensure there is enough water for people and the environment.