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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with (a) Anglian Water and (b) Water Resources East on the suitability of the proposed Fens Reservoir to support agricultural use.

Through the Environment Agency’s National Framework for water resources, we have set out in detail our expectations for water companies on better collaboration on water resources management. Guided by the National Framework, Water Resources East, whose members include those in the agricultural sector, has been consulting on its draft water resources plan. The draft plan sets out how it will help secure water supplies in the long term, including accounting for agricultural water needs and includes new strategic infrastructure projects, such as the proposed Fens Reservoir. Water Resources East’s draft plan has been used to inform Anglian Water’s statutory draft water resources management plan. The Government also supports the agricultural sector with its Farming Transformation Fund grants for the construction of new reservoirs, with a second round set to launch in spring 2023.