European waters are not in good state

A new report from the European Environmental Agency (EEA) explained how a great part of European rivers, lakes and estuaries are not in step with ecological standards for habitat degradation and pollution. According to the EEA only 40% of surface water in EU is in a good ecological state. 

The “State of Our Waters” report surveyed 130,000 waterways and it showed that England is one of the poorer performers. Karmenu Vella is the EU’s environment commissioner and he said that although there had been an improvement in water conditions since 2010, «much more needs to be done before all lakes, rivers, coastal waters and groundwater bodies are in good status». He claimed that «tackling pollution from agriculture, industry and households requires joint efforts from all water users throughout Europe». 

Luckily Scotland did a better job than England: Scottish water standards are similar to Scandinavia’s ones. On the other hand, English water are in the worst part of EU’s ones, with a constant deterioration since the studies of 2010. 

According to Peter Kristensen, the lead author of this report, the causes of these results are higher population densities, more intensive agricultural practices, and better monitoring of waterways. «England is comparable to countries in central Europe with a high proportion of water bodies failing to reach good status – Kristensen said - the situation is much better in Scotland, where only around 45% of sites failed to meet minimum standards». Kristensen said that «it would be advisable for England to continue with legislation similar to the water framework directive after Brexit».

This directive had the aim to protect human health, water supply, ecosystems and biodiversity. In EU’s purposes there was to achieve a good ecological status for their waterways by 2015. But this mission is failed, in a way that put in danger also the 2020 biodiversity goals, as Andreas Baumueller, WWF Europe’s head of natural resources, said. 

«This report shows that we are nowhere near halting biodiversity loss by 2020 – Baumueller explained - It is just another symptom that we will miss the targets set by heads of states». According to the WWF member «the legislation is there in the form of the EU’s WaterFramework Directive, but the political will is clearly lacking to make it work on the ground». 

In the report we can also read that there’s a split between pollution in ground and surface water sites. Indeed while three quarters of groundwater were of good quality, the 62% of rivers, estuaries and lakes were not. The most common polluting materials are mercury and pesticides. 

Hans Bruyninckx, the EEA’s executive director said: «We must increase efforts to ensure our waters are as clean and resilient as they should be, our own wellbeing and the health of our vital water and marine ecosystems depend on it».