A recent report has found that just one-third of Europe’s surface water is in good health or better, which means the EU has failed to meet a goal it had set for itself in 2015 for raising water quality. The deadline was extended to 2027, however data suggested this goal will not be met, either, The Guardian reported.
“The deadline set by the Water Framework Directive (WFD) for European rivers, lakes, transitional, coastal and groundwaters to meet good status was 2015. That was not met and there has been little improvement since 2010,” the report writes.
According to data taken from 19 member countries and compiled by the European Environment Agency (EEA), only 37% of Europe’s surface waters qualify as having a good ecological status and even less (29%) qualifies as having a good chemical status for 2021.
The report singled out parts of western and central Europe, including Germany and the Netherlands, as having an especially higher portion of water bodies with poor quality. And it also found that diffuse pollution from agriculture and atmospheric pollution from coal-powered plants were the most culpable for degrading water quality. Europe is also the world’s fastest-warming continent, due in part to its proximity to the Arctic.
Protected aquatic habitats and species in the EU were assessed as having a poor or bad conservation status, the report explained.
“The health of Europe’s waters is not good,” said Leena Ylä-Mononen, the EEA’s executive director. “Our waters face an unprecedented set of challenges that threatens Europe’s water security.”
The report also found that Europe’s groundwater was in better health than its surface water, with 91% rated as having a “good” quantitative status and 77% also having “good” chemical status.
“Water stress is already occurring in Europe. It affects 20% of Europe's territory and 30% of the population every year, figures that are likely to increase in the future due to climate change,” the report writes. “As climate change unfolds in Europe, managing flood risk affordably and sustainably will become increasingly important.”
Across the EU, a lack of water will also result in increasing costs regarding fires, droughts, and floods. Droughts and fires in the EU that occurred in 2022 resulted in €40 billion worth of damage, the EEA said.