European water bodies suffer from agricultural pollution as well as pollution from insufficiently treated waste water from cities, industry and scattered dwellings, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) report, published today. Artificial barriers, together with navigation, abstraction, aquaculture, and invasive alien species cause additional pressures. However, solutions to tackle the problems exist and should be more widely adopted.
The EEA report 鈥�鈥� shows that a broad range of measures are already available to improve the state of Europe鈥檚 water bodies.听Water retention听尘别补蝉耻谤别蝉,听nature-based solutions听补苍诲听land use change measures聽offer multiple benefits.
Overall, better and more coherent聽颈尘辫濒别尘别苍迟补迟颈辞苍听of the existing legislation聽鈥斅爄ncluding the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, the Floods Directive, and the Water Framework Directive聽鈥斅爓ould reduce key pressures on water. Moreover, all water-using sectors, such as agriculture, energy, mining, aquaculture and navigation, should adopt management practices that can keep water ecosystems healthy and resilient, the EEA report states. These include farming programmes that reduce the use of pesticides, hydropower that ensures passage for fish, stringent fuel standards for navigation, and preservation of river banks.
Currently, key problems include聽pollution听蹿谤辞尘听urban and industrial waste water, diffuse pollution from agriculture, and pollution from mining and dwellings that are not connected to a sewage system. Overall, 22聽% of Europe鈥檚 surface water bodies and 28聽% of the groundwater area are significantly affected by diffuse pollution from agriculture, both by聽nutrients听补苍诲听pesticides. Deposition of聽air pollutants, particularly mercury, leads to the聽poor chemical status聽of Europe鈥檚 water bodies.
Moreover, about 34 % of surface water bodies are significantly affected by聽structural changes, linked to, for example, stabilising the river channel, water storage, hydropower, flood protection, or irrigation. Structural changes affect river course and flow, which can have a major impact on the river and floodplain biodiversity. Many of the structures are different types of聽barriers, but for about 40 % of affected water bodies the purpose of the barriers is unclear, the EEA report notes.
Lesser but still important pressures include聽aquaculture听补苍诲听invasive alien species.听Water scarcity听补苍诲听drought聽events are an increasing problem in many areas of Europe, both permanently and seasonally, the report warns. About 6聽% of Europe鈥檚 surface water bodies and 17聽% of the groundwater area are significantly affected by聽water abstraction, mainly linked to agriculture, public water supply and industry.
eea.europa.eu
