Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of rivers in England are considered to be in good ecological condition; whether this figure has declined since (1) 2015, and (2) 2010; if so, what are the reasons for such a decline; what active monitoring of the condition of such rivers they undertake; how regulatory oversight of those rivers is conducted; when the next Environment Agency report on the state of the environment in terms of water resources will be published; and what is the reason for any delay in its publication.

The 2019 data classifies 551 river water bodies out of 3767 as achieving good or better ecological status or potential. This represents 14.6% of all rivers in England. In 2015, 554 rivers were classed as achieving good or better ecological status or potential, representing 14.7% of all rivers in England. Headline national figures for water quality have remained static over this time period. The results in 2010 were that 22% of all rivers in England were meeting good or better ecological status or potential, but the methods for assessing rivers changed significantly after 2010 which mean this is not a comparable figure.

The Environment Agency (EA) undertakes targeted monitoring to provide the evidence it needs for its planning, regulatory and protection work. The law in England establishes wide-ranging regulatory requirements. For example, abstractions and discharges are permitted under the Environmental Permitting Regulations (2016), and the EA set a total of 4623 water quality permits in 2019.

The EA reports on the state of the environment in a number of different ways, including releasing data and analysis to meet specific statutory requirements and producing State of Environment (SoE) reports to provide a balanced picture of environmental state in England that go beyond these specific statutory requirements. A Water Quality report (Feb 2018) and a Water Resources report (May 2018) were produced as part of a rolling programme of SoE reports. These and other SoE reports will be updated at an appropriate time. There is currently no date set, or specific requirement for, an updated Water Resources or Water Quality report.

The Government recognises that more needs to be done and is committed to improving the water environment as set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan. We are tackling pollution from poor farming practice with regulation, financial incentives and educational schemes for farmers. Our Environmental Land Management Scheme, rewarding farmers for public goods, will be a key part of that. In addition to government investment in many local improvement schemes, water company investment is being scaled up to £4.6 billion in the next five-year, price review period. The Government is working with water companies to consider how best to address the problem of sewage discharge from storm overflows and our new chemicals strategy will build on a robust statutory regime to ensure chemicals are managed and handled safely.