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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the total area of (a) England and (b) Wales covered by groundwater protection zones (i) 1, (ii) 2 and (iii) 3.

Approximately 15% of the area of England is covered by defined Source Protection Zones (SPZs) 1, 2 and 3.

- SPZ1s cover approximately 2,000 km² (1.5%) of the area of England.

- SPZ2s, which include the area covered by SPZ1s, cover approximately 7,700 km² (6.5%) of the area of England.

- SPZ3s, which include the area covered by SPZ1s and SPZ2s, cover approximately 20,000 km² (15%) of the area of England.

In addition, a large number of small private water supplies will be considered to be within an SPZ1 and SPZ2, and may amount to an additional 5%.

The Welsh Government is responsible for SPZs in Wales.