Water quality has improved, but still needs to be improved

Groundwater quality in the European Union (EU) is better than that of surface water. Nitrate pollution has therefore decreased, which means that the manure policy is having an effect. However, the targets prescribed by the Water Framework Directive (WFD) for good ecological and chemical status have not yet been achieved in surface water.

The European Environment Agency (EEA) published a report on water quality in week 27. This study was carried out because the European Commission (EC) will start evaluating the Water Framework Directive this year.

The EEA reports that there is still a lot of work to be done in the field of surface water. About 40% of surface water (mainly rivers and lakes) in the EU is in good ecological status, and only 38% has good chemical status. Mercury in particular is a common pollutant of surface water.  

Poor ecological quality
The situation is worse in the Netherlands, Belgium and a large part of Germany. The Netherlands is in the dark red category, which means that less than 10% of the waters have good ecological water quality. The reasons cited for the problems include untreated waste water and the agricultural sector.

The use of fertilizers and crop protection products is the cause in the agricultural sector, but an improvement can be seen. The EEA mentions that nitrate pollution has decreased considerably. The average nitrate concentration in rivers decreased by 1992% between 2015 and 20. The manure policy therefore has a positive effect.

Reducing emissions
Progress is therefore being made in addressing the sources that cause surface water pollution. Still, the EEA argues that more needs to be done. Agriculture-related emissions must be further reduced, but industrial and urban wastewater must also be treated better. 

In terms of groundwater, things are going a lot better, compared to surface water. Almost 75% of all European groundwater is, chemically speaking, in order. Achieving the Water Framework Directive is important, because failure to achieve this could lead to hefty fines. The majority of water quality policies are focused on the agricultural sector.

Anne-Jan Doorn

Anne Jan Doorn is an arable expert at Boerenbusiness. He writes about the various arable farming markets and also focuses on the land and energy market.

aj.doorn@boerenbusiness. Nl

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