According to a comprehensive review of England's rivers and lakes by the Environment Agency, only around 15% of rivers are in good ecological condition, while fewer than 7% of lakes met this standard. The biggest pollution problem is phosphate, with half of rivers exceeding safe levels. Despite £22bn earmarked for environmental improvements by 2030, the overall picture has changed little since 2019, and the government is on course to miss its target of restoring 77% of England's waters to good ecological status by 2027. The Environment Agency's chair acknowledges that many water bodies are still not meeting standards due to various forms of pollution, including sewage, farming runoff, and microplastics.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Why this leaning score
The language used is generally critical of the government's performance, with phrases such as 'challenging state', 'considerable margin' of missing targets, and quotes from campaigners and scientists highlighting the urgency for change. However, the tone is balanced by quotes from Environment Secretary Angela Eagle that present a more positive view of the government's actions and intentions.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score +0.35 for article 533 · logged 2026-08-06
- Published
England's rivers, lakes and coastal waters remain in a challenging state with only around one in seven classed as being in good ecological condition, according to the first comprehensive assessment of their health in six years.
uncertain
seven → publish → years
Data from the Environment Agency shows that while 15% of rivers are classed as good, fewer than 7% of lakes reached that level.
asserted
% → show → level
No single waterway passed a separate test for chemical pollution.
asserted
waterway → pass → pollution
The biggest individual problem is phosphate - a nutrient from sewage and farm runoff - with around half of rivers still exceeding safe levels.
asserted
half → exceed → levels
Despite a record £22bn earmarked for water company environmental improvements by 2030, the overall picture has changed little since 2019.
asserted
picture → earmark → 2019
The government is already on course to miss its legally binding target of restoring 77% of England's waters to good ecological status by 2027 - a goal the environmental watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection, has warned will be missed by a "considerable margin".
asserted
watchdog → miss → margin
It's now investigating both the government and the Environment Agency over possible rule breaches.
asserted
It → investigate → breaches
Environment Secretary Angela Eagle said the figures "underline the need for wholesale change across the water sector".
asserted
figures → say → sector
She pointed to new laws the government has introduced to hold water companies to account and record investment.
asserted
government → point → investment
"We will drive forward a system that puts the public interest first," she said.
asserted
she → drive → interest
Much of the debate about the state of England's waters has centred on water companies and the sewage they release into rivers.
asserted
they → centre → rivers
But campaigners and scientists also point to agriculture as an equally large source of pollution - one that attracts far less public attention.
asserted
that → point → attention
Erica Popplewell, of the campaign group River Action, said some farming, particularly intensive poultry units - vast sheds housing hundreds of thousands of birds - were a growing threat to rivers such as the Wye and Severn.
asserted
farming → say → Wye
"There's a lot of poo that comes out of the chickens," she said.
asserted
she → be → chickens
"If it goes straight into a river, it causes eutrophication.
asserted
it → go → eutrophication
The whole ecology of the river is damaged, and the river is dying."
asserted
river → damage → river
She called on the government to tackle sewage and farming "with the same urgency".
asserted
She → call → urgency
The National Farmers' Union of England and Wales has been approached for comment.
asserted
Union → approach → comment
Other types of pollution affecting England's bodies of water, the Environment Agency pointed to, include petrol, garden pesticides and contaminated water running off roads picking up microplastics.
asserted
Agency → affect → microplastics
The Environment Agency stressed that this year's data could not be directly compared with 2019 because it had changed its methods.
uncertain
it → stress → methods
In particular, it said the steep fall in the number of lakes ranked as good - down about half from 2019 - largely reflected a change in how its experts now assess them, rather than a genuine decline in their condition.
asserted
experts → say → condition
Its chair, Alan Lovell, acknowledged too many water bodies were "still not achieving the standards we want to see", adding that the agency was "transforming our enforcement work" with its largest ever workforce.
asserted
agency → acknowledge → workforce
But Prof Penny Johnes, a leading water quality scientist at the University of Bristol, told BBC News the true picture was almost certainly worse than the classifications suggested.
uncertain
classifications → lead → News
The scheme was "not fit for purpose", she said, measuring too few pollutants too infrequently, and missing nitrogen and other substances scientists have long understood to be driving rivers' decline.
asserted
scientists → say → decline
The findings come as much of England sits in official drought, with rivers running low and more than 20 million people facing hosepipe bans.
asserted
people → come → bans
Lower flows can concentrate the very pollution the new data is designed to track, leaving fish and other aquatic life exposed to more dangerous levels.
Climate change is expected to bring drier and hotter summers which could further exacerbate this issue.
uncertain
which → concentrate → issue
Asked directly whether England's waters were healthier than six or seven years ago, Prof Johnes said: "No, definitely not."
asserted
Johnes → ask → ?
Chemicals building up
Every river and lake failed the test for chemical pollution.
asserted
Chemicals → build → pollution
The Environment Agency said this is because legacy substances, such as heavy metals from mining, take decades to break down, and some are building up.
But Prof Johnes said it was also a "failure to regulate effectively" the new chemicals entering rivers, from antibiotics to the "forever chemicals" known as PFAS - many not routinely monitored.
asserted
it → say → PFAS
Water UK, which represents the water companies, has called for PFAS use to be banned to limit their build-up and reduce water treatment costs, but the chemicals are currently used in thousands of products, from school uniforms to medical devices.
asserted
chemicals → represent → devices
It said it was spending record amounts of money on improving the country's waterways.
asserted
it → say → waterways
"Water companies are investing £22bn in environmental improvements by 2030.
asserted
companies → invest → 2030
This will help to secure our water supplies, support economic growth and end sewage entering our rivers and seas."
asserted
This → help → rivers
The Environment Agency also noted that other European countries are doing even worse in terms of the good health of their waterways, with only 8% in Germany and just 1% in the Netherlands.
asserted
countries → note → Netherlands
But Prof Johnes said such a comparison is misleading, because of varying methodologies across nations.
asserted
comparison → say → nations
