https://www.eea.europa.eu/airs/2017/natural-capital/copy_of_surface-waters
Surface waters (copy for 2018)
The Seventh Environment Action Programme (7th EAP) includes the goal of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) that good status should be achieved, enhanced or maintained in transitional, coastal and fresh waters. Achieving good ecological status in surface waters is a critical aspect of this. The quality of Europe's surface waters has improved over the past decades, thanks to higher standards of wastewater treatment, for example, and reductions in agricultural inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus. Pollution from agriculture (in particular nutrient losses from agricultural land) and urban and industrial wastewater nevertheless remain significant. Hydromorphological pressures — mainly from hydropower, navigation, agriculture, flood protection and urban development resulting in altered habitats — also affect many surface water bodies. Overall, based on preliminary data, it is estimated that by 2015 the ecological status of just 41 % of EU surface water bodies was good or high. Only limited improvements are expected over the 2016-2021 period making it unlikely that the objective of achieving good status of waters will be met. Full implementation of the management measures under the Water Framework Directive, in combination with full implementation of other relevant directives (e.g. Urban Waste Water Treatment, Nitrates Directive) is needed in order to restore the ecological status or potential of surface waters.
Setting the scene
One of the goals of the 7th EAP (EU, 2013) is that the impact of pressures on transitional, coastal and fresh waters (including surface and groundwaters) should be significantly reduced to achieve, maintain or enhance good status, as defined by the Water Framework Directive. This briefing addresses only surface waters. Surface waters make up the majority of the volume of EU waters and are important habitats, providing key support to society and the economy throughout Europe, while clean, unpolluted waters are essential for our ecosystems. Surface waters have traditionally been the disposal route for human, agricultural and industrial waste, which has damaged their water quality. They have also been altered (by dams, canalisation etc.) to facilitate agriculture and urbanisation, to produce energy and to protect against flooding, all of which can result in damage to their hydromorphology.
Policy targets and progress
The main aim of EU water policy is to ensure that a sufficient quantity of good quality water is available for people's needs and the environment. The Water Framework Directive (EU, 2000) stipulates that EU Member States should aim to achieve good status in all bodies of surface water and groundwater by 2015 unless there are grounds for exemption. The 7th EAP mirrored this objective and called for all European water bodies to reach 'good' status by 2020.
During the last 30 years, significant progress has been made in reducing pollution in numerous European water bodies, in particular thanks to improved wastewater treatment and also because of reductions in agricultural inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus. Water quality in Europe has therefore improved significantly in recent decades, and the effects of pollutants have decreased (EEA 2015a, 2015b). Pollution from agriculture (in particular nutrient losses from agricultural land) and urban and industrial wastewater nevertheless remain significant. For decades, sometimes centuries, humans have altered European surface waters (straightening and canalisation, disconnection of flood plains, land reclamation, dams, weirs, bank reinforcements, etc.) to facilitate agriculture and urbanisation, produce energy and protect against flooding. These activities have resulted in damage to the morphology and hydrology of the water bodies, i.e. to their hydromorphology.
Based on preliminary data of the second River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) (reported in 2015) (EEA, 2018), only 41 % of the surface water bodies in the EU are in good or high ecological status. The remaining surface water bodies will need mitigation and/or restoration measures to meet the Water Framework Directive objective (Figure 1).
Rivers and transitional waters are, on average, in a worse condition than lakes and coastal waters. Concerns about the ecological status of surface water bodies are most pronounced for central and north-western Europe, in areas with intensive agricultural practices and high population densities. The status of coastal and transitional waters in the Black Sea and greater North Sea regions is also of concern.
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