Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential threat to the Norfolk Broads eco-system through salt water ingress through (a) rivers and (b) encroachment from the coastline.

In order to protect fish stocks, the Environment Agency continuously monitors saline levels on the River Bure and River Yare. The Agency also monitors weather and tidal forecasts to help prepare for any potential incidents as a result of saline incursion.

To help get better understanding and predict how far and how much saltwater currently extends into the Broadland rivers now and in future, the Broadland Futures Initiative (BFI) a partnership for future flood risk management in the Broadland area, are working with Environment Agency to develop a statistical model that relates the degree of incursion to the main factors which cause it. This statistical model will be based on the long record of salinity monitoring data collected by the Environment Agency together with other organisations and groups. With ongoing monitoring and data collection, the ability to predict will further improve and the Environment Agency also continue to explore ways to reduce the impact of these natural events.