The Environment Agency has published its latest Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) Regulations (WFDR) classifications, which gives information to water companies, farmers and stakeholders to see clearly where the water environment is performing well and where further action is needed.
The data shows that only 14.3 per cent of England’s surface waters achieved good ecological status, meeting the standards set out under the Water Framework Directive Regulations (WFDR).
All 4,658 surface water bodies were assessed against a range of standards covering wildlife, water quality and physical habitat.
The system has a “one-out, all-out” rule where a single failing element can cause an entire water body to fail overall status. 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.
The data also revealed that 65.4 per cent are moderate (63 per cent in 2019), 17 per cent are poor, 3.1 per cent are bad and 0.1 per cent are high.
The Environment Agency will now 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.
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.
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."
