This comes as the environmental organisation WWF expressed its regret that Portugal “continues to ignore laws that ensure water quality”, while criticising the general state of European fresh water resources, on the back of the findings made by the EEA.
Portugal has been identified as one of the countries with deficient legislation in terms of the environment and “this can be seen in the rivers we bathe in the summer, or the water used to irrigate the food we eat”, Ângela Morgado of the ANP Nature Association said in a statement this week.
The World Wide Fund for Nature adds that it is not surprised by findings due to the failures of governments across Europe to apply the law.
The WWF said that despite progress in improving the quality of Europe’s lakes, rivers, coastal waters and groundwater sources; pollution, structures like dams, and over-abstraction remain top threats to their long-term health.
The EEA report gives an updated health check on over 130,000 surface and groundwater bodies monitored by EU Member States, based on the data collected and reported from more than 160 so-called River Basin Management Plans covering the period 2010 to 2015.