Just 14.3% of England's rivers, lakes, and coastal waters are in good ecological health, according to new data, prompting criticism that the state of the nation's waterways is a 'national shame'.
The Environment Agency's first update in six years assessed 4,658 rivers, lakes, estuaries, canals, and coastal waters, examining wildlife, water quality, and physical habitat. The 2025 figures show a slight decline from 16.3% in 2019, though the agency noted the results are not directly comparable due to updated methods and a wider data set.
Pollutants and criticism
Sewage spills, agricultural nutrients, and pollutants from cities and roads, including litter, petrol, and garden pesticides, are among the key factors. Gary Carter, GMB union's national officer, said: “The terrible state of England’s waterways is a badge of national shame - and privatised water companies must take a massive chunk of the blame.”
He added: “For years they’ve been allowed to pump sewage into our rivers, streams and lakes, as massive dividends and fat cat salaries take priority over repairing crumbling infrastructure.”
Only 15% of rivers achieve good ecological status or higher, far short of the government's target to restore 75% by 2027.
Call for urgent action
Ami McCarthy, Greenpeace UK’s head of politics, said: “These stark findings should start alarm bells ringing throughout the country. The government needs to take urgent action to turn off the chemicals that are destroying our land at the source. The scale of this crisis is sobering. Water companies must be made to take responsibility for their part, but pollution from agriculture is now one of the biggest drivers of environmental damage in UK rivers.”
She added: “It’s time for the government to work with farmers, providing proper support to rein in runaway use of fertilisers and pesticides, and boost nature-friendly practices.”
Environment Secretary Angela Eagle said the results underline the need for “wholesale change” across the water sector. She said: “Our local communities deserve to have clean local rivers and lakes. We’ve already introduced landmark legislation to hold water companies to account, secured record investment to help fix infrastructure, and are laser focused on long term reforms that will prevent future failures.”
A Water UK spokesman said: “As the Environment Agency has made clear, the health of rivers, lakes and waterways is shaped by many different factors, including agricultural nutrients and urban and transport run-off, as well as sewage. Water companies are investing a record £22 billion in environmental improvements by 2030. This will be the largest amount of money ever spent on the natural environment, and will help to secure our water supplies, support economic growth and end sewage entering our rivers and seas.”
