The European Environment Agency - EEA - has published the report of the largest study ever carried out, warning that over 70% of European waters are in poor condition, while 20% of the territory and 30% of the population are already suffering from water shortage problems.
You may read it after learning from Troubled Waters − The EU is an agricultural superpower, but the intensive agriculture that feeds us comes at great cost to our waters. See also Under the Surface - The hidden crisis in Europe’s groundwater.
Also, be aware about “Many Water Cycle Diagrams Promote Misconceptions - Eos”. Some diagrams published in the EEA report are biased.
“Over 95% of the water cycle diagrams showed temperate, forested regions despite most of the world’s population living in drier areas.”
The EEA report is the most important for water health in Europe. It covers more than 120,000 surface bodies and 3.8 million square kilometres of groundwater, equivalent to 85% of the EU’s surface water and 87% of its aquifers.
The official data notified to the EEA by each of the EU Member States is available at this link.
Some excerpts
Some context: Clandestine dumping of purines from farms remains a common practice during rainy autumn spells.
This malpractice poses a serious threat to the environment and people’s health, especially in areas where livestock farming is most important. A problem which, combined with the intensive use of nutrients and pesticides in agriculture, the increase in plastic pollution in rivers and the lack of proper wastewater treatment, is leading to the deterioration of water reserves throughout Europe.
The scale of the agricultural pressures in Europe is enormous, not only on water but
also on climate, biodiversity, soils and air quality.
According to the EEA report, based on data supplied by the Member States themselves, agriculture is by far the main source of pollution of surface water and groundwater. This is due to advances in industrialised agricultural production and the intensive use of agrochemicals.
On the water situation in Europe, only 37% of surface water bodies achieve an ecological status in line with what the EU Water Framework Directive requires, and less than 30% show good chemical status.
Groundwater is in better condition than surface water, with 77% showing good chemical status and 91% maintaining a good water table. However, the report warns that problems remain due to overexploitation of aquifers and pollution by nitrates and pesticides.
Atmospheric pollutants
Deposition of air pollution, including particulate matter, is a leading source of pollutants to the water environment. Emissions of sulphur dioxide, mostly from energy supply, contribute to acid rain. Emissions of nitrogen oxide from transport and ammonia from agriculture contribute to nitrogen accumulation on land and water (EEA, 2022c). Air pollution from manufacturing, the extractive industry and coal-fired power generation are major sources of metals and persistent organic pollutants in water (EEA, 2018a, 2022c)EEA 2024 report, p. 64
Agriculture is also by far the largest net consumer of water in Europe: almost three quarters of total demand. A proportion which, the EEA warns, is set to increase in the coming years, as more dry crops come under irrigation due to climate change.
The health of Europe’s waters is not good. Our waters face an unprecedented set of challenges that threatens Europe’s water security. We need to redouble our efforts to restore the health of our valued rivers, lakes, coastal waters, and other water bodies and to make sure this vital resource is resilient and secure for generations to come.
Leena Ylä-Mononen. EEA Executive Director Pollution, over-use and climate change threaten water resilience in Europe | European Environment Agency's home page
In this 110-page report, only one paragraph mentions the ‘Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) EU action’ and then a short page entitled ‘Tackling emerging concerns in water pollution’ (p. 65).
Regarding the REACH programme: Hartung T. estimated in 2009 that 86% of the data on chemicals used by industry was missing, and that REACH provided an opportunity to fill these gaps. (Toxicity for twenty-first century. Nature, 2009;460(7252):208-12). In 2008, the year of the first registrations, REACH covered 27,000 companies and the use of 30,000 chemicals.
Here, the EAA report is being used to politely introduce a new area of ‘concern’ about so-called emerging pollutants, even though they are not emerging.
Then the chapter “Adapting to water scarcity, drought and
flood risks” makes no mention of the growing collaboration between the armed forces/military and the civilian sector in this specific field. In other words, the influential role played by the military in the management of space and water, often through its position as coordinator of programmes, including scientific research and policy support, is absent from this report.
In mitigation plans, crisis management, resilience, programme development and policy renewal: local self-organisation and self-administration are not proposed in this report.