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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for a national grid for water to ensure that those parts of England with sufficient water can supply water to areas that are water stressed.

The concept of a national grid for water has been assessed previously and has been discounted on the basis of cost and practicalities. Unlike gas and electricity, the infrastructure needed for a national grid is considerable as water is heavy, difficult and costly to move. It remains the case that often, local sources of water are better value economically and environmentally than moving water over long distances, which is carbon and energy intensive.

However, there are many existing transfers of water linking parts of the country. For example, the Environment Agency operates a transfer of water from north of Cambridge to Essex to benefit farmers and water companies. Water companies such as United Utilities transfer water from the Lake District to Manchester keeping the city in water. Water companies must look closely at ways of sharing water across their existing networks and by building new links when they prepare their statutory water resource management plans (WRMPs). The current draft WRMPs and regional water resource plans consulted on earlier this year include further development of connections, incrementally building wider and more integrated networks, as well as some regional transfers of water, where these are best value options for customers, society and the environment.