New data to drive action to improve England's rivers and lakes
EA publishes latest data, providing detail on the health of England's rivers, lakes, estuaries and groundwater.
The Environment Agency has today (6 August) published the latest Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) Regulations (WFDR) classifications, providing information to water companies, farmers and stakeholders to see clearly where the water environment is performing well and where further action is needed.
Today’s data shows that 14.3% of England’s surface waters achieved good ecological status, meeting the standards set out under the Water Framework Directive Regulations (WFDR), retained EU legislation which assesses the health of Europe’s rivers, lakes, estuaries and groundwater. All 4,658 surface water bodies were assessed against a range of standards covering wildlife, water quality and physical habitat.
In recent years the Environment Agency has increased its workforce, leading to record numbers of inspections, better data and stronger powers, supporting more investment and better regulation of rivers, lakes and coastal waters.
While the figure reported in 2019 was 16.3%, the two datasets are not directly comparable because this time around, the EA has updated analytical methods, using a wider set of monitoring data and focusing on places it suspected it would find problems. This resulted in the overall figure of 14.3%. This updated approach coupled with the classification system’s “one-out, all-out” rule where a single failing element can cause an entire water body to fail overall status, means some water bodies now show a lower status than in 2019, even where there isn’t necessarily a genuine decline in water quality.
The underlying data shows 82% of individual ecological indicators are now Good or High demonstrating the underlying health of many waterways is encouraging even where overall classifications haven’t shifted.
Chair of the Environment Agency Alan Lovell said:
The latest Water Environment (WFD) Classification help us understand where water bodies are improving and where further action is needed. The results show that too many water bodies are still not achieving the standards we want to see.
We share the public’s ambition for faster progress which is why we are transforming our enforcement work with better data, stronger powers and our largest ever enforcement workforce.
We now know more about the water environment than ever before, and the updated classifications are an important part of this picture. We are using all our evidence to direct sustained improvement action from water companies, farmers, businesses and councils.
Many factors can affect the quality of rivers and other bodies of water – from sewage spills and agricultural nutrients to urban and transport surface water run-off, which can include litter, petrol and garden pesticides.
The government has introduced stronger powers through the Water (Special Measures) Act, including tougher penalties on water companies and new measures to ensure regulators can act more quickly and effectively. The latest price review period secured a record £22.1 billion for water company environmental improvements by 2030, more than trebling the investment over the past 5 years.
The classification system’s “one-out, all-out” rule means that a single failing element can cause an entire water body to fail overall status. Around a third of water bodies that failed to achieve good status did so because of just one element. For example, the River Foss scores Good on every ecological indicator except phosphate, where it scores Moderate, bringing down the ecological status classification to Moderate. This means the river has been reported as a healthy environment for fish, plants and invertebrates. It illustrates just how stringent these standards are.
These strict requirements mean no EU country is currently on track to meet WFDR objectives, with comparable countries recording far lower rates of good ecological status, including 8% in Germany and 1% in the Netherlands.
The 2025 dataset also shows:
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65.4% are moderate (63% in 2019), 17% are poor, 3.1% are bad and 0.1% are high.
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Ammonia levels at good or better status in 92.9% of cases.
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Groundwater results are slightly higher than in 2019, with 41% achieving good status, compared to 37% in 2019.
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All surface waters continue to fail chemical status, largely due to persistent pollutants that accumulate in the environment and take decades to deplete.
The Environment Agency will use this data to work with water companies, farmers and communities identify to target investment and enforcement to deliver real improvements for rivers, lakes and groundwater. For example, phosphate levels in the River Roch improved from poor in 2019 to good in 2025, following a catchment permit that required sewage treatment works upstream of the Manchester Ship Canal to remove more phosphate from their discharge. The approach has reversed deterioration in the Manchester Ship Canal and led to improvements in other connected rivers as well, demonstrating how targeted, evidence-based action can improve water quality.
The Environment Agency has significantly stepped up compliance and enforcement activity, carrying out a record 10,000 inspections of water company sites and increasing criminal investigations into breaches. The EA is also set to further increase farm inspections from 4000 up to 6000 annually over the next 3 years. Since 2015 we’ve concluded over 70 prosecutions against water and sewerage companies, securing fines of over £158 million.
Notes to editors
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Surface water bodies are classified as high, good, moderate, poor or bad, based on elements including aquatic species, temperature and oxygen levels, and the health of physical habitats such as riverbanks. Surface waters also receive a pass or fail for chemical status, covering issues such as legacy chemicals and microplastics.
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All 272 groundwater bodies in England are classified as either good or poor, based on water quantity and pollution levels.
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Classifications are updated every six years. The previous set was published in 2019, meaning this dataset spans 2019 to 2025.
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Further information can be found here: Water Data Explorer - Engage Environment Agency