asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what steps he is taking to investigate the possibilities of augmenting public water supplies by a Humber barrage scheme and increased abstraction of groundwater supplies.

A Humber barrage scheme could not, in practice, augment public water supplies because of the poor quality of the water in the estuary; and there would be the risk of destroying the important deep-water approaches to Humberside. On ground-water resources, I would refer the right hon. Gentleman to my reply to him on 25th November.—[Vol. 792, c. 52—3.]

As a great part of the country has now been covered by hydro-geological surveys, would the Minister advise river and water authorities to explore the possibilities of obtaining supplies of ground-water reserves by means of boreholes in preference to the policy of wasting good agricultural land by impounding surface water in costly reservoirs?

I am certain that the growing demand for water is a problem which will be with us for a long time. I agree that any resources which can economically be brought into play should be so brought into play, and I will consider the specific suggestion made by the right hon. Gentleman.