Rivers manage to be cleanest for a century and fail EU tests

25 Sep 09
Rivers in England and Wales are the cleanest they have been for a century - but most are still failing the European Union standard, the Environment Agency has said
By Helen Mooney

25 September 2009

Rivers in England and Wales are the cleanest they have been for a century – but most are still failing the European Union standard, the Environment Agency has said.

Only 26% of English and Welsh rivers meet the European Commission’s criteria, the agency said in a report published on September 22. 

The European Water Framework Directive, which became law in the UK in 2003, demands higher quality standards than those currently used in the UK by 2015. It also uses a wider and more sophisticated range of more than 30 different measures.

Under the standards, 117 rivers are classified as being in bad condition. These include parts of the rivers Trent and Stour. It is estimated that the cost of getting 95% of UK rivers to good status by 2015 could be up to £9bn, but the EU allows less demanding interim targets to be set for 2015 and 2021.

The report, however, said that water quality had improved for the nineteenth consecutive year against the previous UK standards, and that wildlife was returning to rivers.

Seven out of ten English rivers and nine out of ten Welsh rivers achieved ‘very good’ or ‘good’ status in terms of chemical and biological water quality in 2008.

‘Our rivers are at their cleanest for over a century, which is why we are seeing the return of otters, eels and salmon to the Thames, Mersey and Tyne,’ said the Environment Agency’s chief executive, Paul Leinster.
 

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