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Water Supply

My Lords, the noble Lord spoilt his question with his last comment. This is not a question of monotonous regularity. The fact is that there have been several droughts, but they are not that regular. One must look at the benefits and the cost. As I have said, shortages are not unusual, which is why we cannot allege that they are the result of climate change. But, let’s face it, our record in this country on infrastructure replacement has not been brilliant in the last few decades. That applies to water, transport and rail. To that extent, the noble Lord hit the nail on the head—we have got to do more and we have got to do better. There is no question about it—not enough has been done, or quite clearly we would not be in the position that we are in now. The point that I was making on reservoirs—it is not an unimportant point—is that five have been identified in plans and there are plans for three to be expanded. The note that I have says that they are not necessarily the only solution, although they can be part of a solution. They may not always be welcomed by local populations. Reservoirs are still taking water from the environment and may not mitigate environmental problems. So they are not a solution. They are part of a solution, but building more of them cannot be the be-all and end-all.