Water is getting cleaner, but there are still major challenges | News item

News item | 20-12-2024 | 2:55 PM

Since the 1990s, Dutch water has become increasingly cleaner on average. This is important for our drinking water, for recreation, for our agriculture and for our industry. The water is also the habitat for many animals and plants. However, the interim evaluation shows that significant challenges still remain to comply with the WFD in 2027. The forecasts are not good, especially in the field of chemicals and nutrients (fertilizers).

So much still needs to be done: agreed measures must be implemented and additional measures are also needed. In 2025, agreements will be made about how the government (including Rijkswaterstaat), provinces, water boards, municipalities and various sectors can be stepped up.

Minister Madlener: “We all want clean water. Who doesn’t love the beautiful rivers in our country, and clean drinking water is important for all of us. Today it became clear where additional efforts are needed to achieve cleaner water. I think it is important that we look at what else we can do, so we will discuss this with the responsible governments and companies next year.”

Chemicals and nutrients

The interim evaluation predicts that Dutch waters will not yet meet the standards for 42 chemicals in 2027, if no additional policy is implemented. A group of experts has recommended approximately 20 measures to reduce the amount of chemicals in the water, a decision on which will be made in the spring of 2025. In the meantime, several ongoing projects are being continued, such as revising outdated discharge permits when necessary and reducing the leaching of crop protection products into water.

There is also still progress to be made in the field of nutrients. The interim evaluation predicts that the measures taken from the seventh Nitrate Directive Action Program will probably lead to improvements, but at the same time indicates that there are still challenges for agriculture and to a lesser extent for sewage treatment plants. Work is currently underway on the eighth Action Program, which will come into effect from 2026, under the leadership of Minister Wiersma of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature. In addition, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management will test all 314 Dutch sewage treatment plants to gain insight into the discharges from these installations by 2025. The new Environmental Act also allows regional and local authorities to better manage nutrient emissions, for example through regulations and area plans.

The Water Framework Directive

The European member states have agreed on the level of water quality that must be achieved by the end of 2027, which is laid down in the Water Framework Directive. This means that the Netherlands must meet more than 100,000 targets (there are approximately 140 parameters for the 750 surface water bodies and 12 parameters for each of the 23 groundwater bodies). If one parameter is not met, the entire water body does not meet the target.

The Netherlands is currently achieving approximately 80% of the 100,000 goals. Despite the improvements in recent decades, we are not on track to be compliant with everything by 2027. Moreover, all European member states are still far from fully complying with the WFD.

Consequences in 2027

It is important to get our water cleaner. First of all, because of the importance of clean water for ourselves. In addition, it may have consequences for individual projects and activities if the water quality rules are not met by 2027.

This does not mean that from one day to the next, activities can no longer take place in all Dutch waters. If a water body mainly has problems with a certain chemical substance, it may no longer be discharged there. At the same time, a bridge can still be built near this water, for example. The consequences can therefore be drastic.