Most rivers, lakes and coasts ‘likely to remain in poor state’, watchdog warns

Legal targets to improve the state of England’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters will be missed by a “considerable margin” without more action and funding, the environmental watchdog has warned.

The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has found the Government and the Environment Agency (EA) are off track to meet targets for 77% of England’s water bodies to reach good condition by 2027.

Laws were not being effectively implemented and unless things changed, most rivers, lakes and coastal waters are “likely to remain in a poor state in the years ahead”, the OEP’s chairwoman Dame Glenys said – a situation which she labelled “deeply concerning”.