England’s waters to remain illegally polluted beyond 2021

Most rivers, lakes and coastal and ground waters in England will still not meet legally binding EU water pollution targets by 2021 -  six years after the initial deadline.

According to the Environment Agency’s (EA) draft river basin management plans (RBMPs), analysed by ENDS, compliance with Water Framework Directive (WFD) standards will have risen to just 25% in 2021, up from 17% in 2015 (see table 1).