The health of rivers across the UK has not improved in recent years despite restoration projects, analysis from the Rivers Trust has shown.
Its State of Rivers report concludes that harmful chemicals are present in groundwater sources as well as waterbodies across the UK.
The organisation, which last reported on the state of waterways in 2021, said more data is needed to understand the scale of the problems and deploy solutions.
“There are some brilliant projects improving river health on smaller scales, but when we look at the national picture, little has changed nationally since the 2019 investigations,” the Rivers Trust said.
The report draws on data from the Environment Agency, and its counterparts in each devolved nation. The most recent data from the Environment Agency, in 2022, shows 62% of river stretches in England failed ecological health standards because of activities attributable to agriculture and rural land management.
Waterways can fail for more than one contributing reason, these included 54% due to activities related to the water industry including abstraction.
Consequently, Rivers Trust is urging government to provide funding as well as political will to enforce existing laws and implement strategies to tackle harm from chemicals and land use. It suggested a ban on chemicals that could cause harm to be extended to substances within the same group.
“We need tougher regulation outlawing more polluting products, such as persistent chemicals, and we need to use our existing laws to fully enforce the polluter pays principle,” the Rivers Trust report says..
The use of nature based solutions should be supported, the report adds, by removing obstacles that could slow the wide-spread uptake of non-traditional approaches. Regulators should establish strategic guidance and frameworks to incentivise the use of nature-based options.
Work undertaken by Rivers Trust with the Wildlife and Countryside into chemicals highlighted the proclivity of toxic substances at rivers and groundwater sites across England. Sampling indicated 63% of groundwater sites were in poor overall health and 55% in poor chemical health.
More than 1,600 river, lake and groundwater sites in England contained harmful substances, with 101 chemicals identified in river samples.
Three out of four groundwater sample sites tested had evidence of at least one of the identified chemicals.
Rivers Trust urged government to take action to protect the environment against forever chemicals by banning the most dangerous, including PFAS, from all but the most essential. The report called for more research and better monitoring of combinations and interactions of chemical cocktails and their impact on waterbodies.
Surveys of rivers undertaken on behalf of the organisation last year showed some kind of visible pollution at 54% of survey sites and 46% containing litter.
With so many waterbodies in poor health, the environmental regulator has proposed adding a record 27 new locations to the list of designated bathing sites in England and Wales.
Subject to consultation, 15 stretches of rivers, eight beaches and four lakes will receive designation. That means regular water quality tests will be carried out by the EA to ensure swimmers’ safety.