EEA report on European waters - Assessment of status and pressures, 2018

The European Environmental Agency (EEA) report “European waters - Assessment of status and pressures 2018” gives an updated check on over 130,000 surface and groundwater bodies monitored based on the data collected and reported from more than 160 so-called River Basin Management Plans covering the period 2010 to 2015.

According to the report, only 40% of monitored lakes, rivers, estuaries and coastal waters achieved the EU Water Framework Directive’s minimum ‘good’ or ‘high’ ecological status. European groundwater bodies, like aquifers, are in good health in most cases, with 74% being rated as having good chemical pollution status and 89% having good ecological status. The EEA assessment also looked at the quantitative state and over-abstraction of European groundwater and the overall chemical status of water bodies.