The Environment Agency (EA) has today, 6 August 2026, published its latest Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) Regulations (WFDR) classifications. The data reveals that 14.3% of England's surface waters achieved good ecological status, meeting the standards of the retained EU legislation.
This figure is not directly comparable to the 16.3% reported in 2019, as the EA has updated its analytical methods, using a wider set of monitoring data and focusing on areas suspected of having problems. The classification system's "one-out, all-out" rule, where a single failing element can cause an entire water body to fail, also impacts the overall status.
Despite the overall figure, the underlying data indicates that 82% of individual ecological indicators are now Good or High. Alan Lovell, Chair of the Environment Agency, stated that the results show too many water bodies are not achieving desired standards, but affirmed the EA is transforming its enforcement work with better data and its largest ever enforcement workforce.
The EA has increased its workforce in recent years, leading to record numbers of inspections and criminal investigations into breaches by water companies. The agency plans to further increase farm inspections from 4,000 to 6,000 annually over the next three years.