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

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in order to secure the (1) water level, and (2) quality, of chalk streams, what plans they have to prevent HS2 from using water to tunnel through the Chilterns.

The Environment Agency is advising HS2 Ltd and their contractors on mitigating the potential impacts of their works on water level and quality of chalk streams. This includes water usage for tunnelling in the Chilterns. The Environment Agency will review any application for increased abstraction in the Colne catchment in line with the current Colne Catchment Abstraction Management Strategy to ensure that there is no detrimental impact on the environment.