The Environment Agency has warned that 86% of river water bodies in England failed to reach good ecological status in 2016 – and is calling on the water companies to do more.

The warning comes in the Agency’s State of the Environment report on the water quality of rivers, estuaries, coasts and groundwater in England, published today. Introducing the report, Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency, said there are still far too many serious pollution incidents, 317 to water in 2016 and that unacceptable levels of phosphorus in over half of English rivers are usually due to sewage effluent and pollution from farm land. She also warned that groundwater quality is currently deteriorating and is often heavily polluted with nitrates, mainly from agriculture. Click here to read more