What percentage of England's rivers are in good ecological status?

As of the 2022 WFD Cycle 3 assessment, only 14% of England's 4,043 assessed surface water bodies (rivers, lakes, canals, coastal and transitional waters) achieved Ecological Good or High status. This means the large majority remain at Moderate, Poor or Bad status. Source: Environment Agency Catchment Data Explorer, OGL v3.0.

What is the Gera River Health Index (GRHI)?

The Gera River Health Index (0–100) is a transparent composite computed from real EA WFD classification data. For each water body: GRHI = 0.6 × ecological_score + 0.4 × physico-chemical_score, where High=100, Good=75, Moderate=50, Poor=25, Bad=0. If physico-chemical data is absent, the score is 100% ecological. Catchment GRHI is the mean of its constituent water body GRHIs. No figure is estimated; all inputs are real EA classifications published under OGL v3.0.

Which English catchment has the cleanest rivers?

On the Gera River Health Index, Till (Solway Tweed River Basin District) ranks highest at 78/100, with 67% of its 18 water bodies at Ecological Good or High status (EA WFD Cycle 3, 2022).

What is the WFD and why does it matter for river health?

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) is the legal framework requiring EU and UK member states to assess and improve all surface and ground water bodies across six-yearly cycles. Cycle 3 (2022) is the current baseline for England. Water bodies are classified as High, Good, Moderate, Poor or Bad for Ecological status and for specific physico-chemical elements. Only "Good" or above meets the WFD objective. The Environment Agency publishes all classifications under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Where does this river health data come from?

All classification data is from the Environment Agency's Catchment Data Explorer bulk CSV (environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/England/classifications.csv), covering 4,043 surface water bodies assessed in WFD Cycle 3 (2022 assessment year). Published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Gera computes only the GRHI composite; all underlying classifications are reproduced verbatim.

GeraHome / UK River Health

UK River Health by Catchment

Real Environment Agency WFD Cycle 3 (2022) ecological classifications for 4,043 surface water bodies, ranked across 105 English management catchments.

How clean and healthy are England's rivers, and which catchments have the best water quality?

As of 2022 (Cycle 3 assessment), only 14% of England's 4,043 assessed surface water bodies achieved Ecological Good or High status under the Water Framework Directive (Cycle 3). The Gera River Health Index ranks all 105 management catchments: Till leads at 78/100, Kent North is lowest at 42/100. Source: Environment Agency. OGL v3.0.

Source:Environment Agency — Catchment Data Explorer WFD Classifications (Cycle 3, 2022)·as of 2022 (Cycle 3 assessment)updated every 6 years (WFD cycle) (last: 20 June 2026)

Gera River Health Index54 / 100England average. Only 14% of water bodies at Good or High ecological status.How this index is calculated

4,043

Water bodies assessed

14%

At Good/High ecology

105

Management catchments

54/100

England average GRHI

River health by management catchment — Gera River Health Index

Ranked by GRHI (highest = healthiest). Each row is one of 105 English management catchments. Source: EA WFD Cycle 3 (2022). OGL v3.0.

Rank	Catchment	River Basin District	GRHI	Good/High %	Water bodies
1	Till	Solway Tweed	78	67%	18
2	Tweed	Solway Tweed	78	100%	3
3	Lune	North West	76	59%	29
4	Esk and Coast	Humber	74	67%	21
5	South West Lakes	North West	72	57%	21
6	Kent and Leven	North West	71	62%	42
7	North West Awb	North West	70	0%	1
8	Tyne	Northumbria	69	34%	117
9	Northumberland Rivers	Northumbria	68	38%	82
10	Derwent North West	North West	67	48%	27
11	Wyre	North West	66	62%	8
12	Test and Itchen	South East	66	31%	32
13	South West Trac	South West	65	32%	44
14	Eden and Esk	Solway Tweed	65	42%	66
15	Northumbria Trac	Northumbria	64	38%	13
16	North Cornwall Seaton Looe and Fowey	South West	64	33%	48
17	Devon South	South West	63	34%	65
18	Cornwall West and the Fal	South West	63	20%	51
19	Derwent Derbyshire	Humber	63	30%	43
20	Severn England Awb	Severn	62	33%	3
21	Humber Awb	Humber	62	33%	6
22	New Forest	South East	62	33%	18
23	Swale Ure Nidd and Ouse Upper	Humber	60	18%	120
24	Avon Hampshire	South West	60	32%	44
25	Kennet and Trib	Thames	60	25%	20
26	Derwent Humber	Humber	60	10%	70
27	Tamar	South West	60	20%	56
28	Ribble	North West	59	27%	49
29	Aire and Calder	Humber	59	11%	75
30	Darent and Cray	Thames	58	20%	5
31	Humber Trac	Humber	58	0%	6
32	Wear	Northumbria	57	8%	62
33	Wharfe and Ouse Lower	Humber	57	21%	47
34	East Hampshire	South East	56	27%	11
35	Tees	Northumbria	56	13%	85
36	Hull and East Riding	Humber	55	8%	48
37	North Devon	South West	55	14%	96
38	Solway Tweed Trac	Solway Tweed	55	0%	2
39	Ouse Upper and Bedford	Anglian	54	11%	90
40	Rother	South East	54	15%	34
41	Dorset	South West	54	21%	68
42	South East Trac	South East	54	4%	24
43	Isle of Wight	South East	54	0%	10
44	North Norfolk Rivers	Anglian	54	0%	6
45	North West Norfolk	Anglian	54	10%	10
46	North West Trac	North West	53	25%	16
47	Louth Grimsby and Ancholme	Humber	53	6%	35
48	Avon Bristol and Somerset North Streams	Severn	53	14%	104
49	Severn England Trac	Severn	53	0%	3
50	Severn Vale	Severn	53	8%	48
51	Cam and Ely Ouse	Anglian	53	10%	69
52	Don and Rother	Humber	53	6%	70
53	Somerset South and West	South West	52	8%	107
54	Douglas	North West	52	7%	15
55	Stour	South East	52	12%	24
56	Witham	Anglian	52	5%	77
57	Thames Trac	Thames	52	0%	5
58	Mersey Upper	North West	51	8%	65
59	Broadland Rivers	Anglian	51	4%	76
60	Devon East	South West	51	15%	81
61	Irwell	North West	51	0%	41
62	Suffolk East	Anglian	51	14%	43
63	Loddon and Trib	Thames	51	6%	16
64	Thames Awb	Thames	50	0%	1
65	Anglian Awb	Anglian	50	0%	1
66	South East Awb	South East	50	0%	1
67	Wye Mc	Severn	50	10%	51
68	Essex Combined	Anglian	50	7%	68
69	Mersey Lower	North West	50	0%	25
70	Idle and Torne	Humber	50	5%	42
71	Essex South	Thames	50	0%	3
72	Old Bedford and Middle Level	Anglian	50	0%	6
73	Gloucestershire and the Vale	Thames	50	7%	41
74	Roding Beam and Ingrebourne	Thames	50	0%	13
75	Dove	Humber	49	7%	30
76	Cuckmere and Pevensey Levels	South East	49	0%	17
77	Teme	Severn	48	5%	41
78	Colne	Thames	48	5%	22
79	Trent Lower and Erewash	Humber	48	4%	79
80	Anglian Trac	Anglian	48	0%	22
81	Maidenhead and Sunbury	Thames	48	0%	15
82	Soar	Humber	48	2%	51
83	Alt and Crossens	North West	47	0%	5
84	Medway	Thames	47	2%	55
85	London	Thames	47	2%	44
86	Cotswolds	Thames	47	3%	30
87	Wey and Trib	Thames	47	9%	32
88	Avon Warwickshire	Severn	46	3%	78
89	Nene	Anglian	46	5%	62
90	Dee	Dee	46	10%	10
91	Cherwell and Ray	Thames	46	4%	26
92	Severn Middle Worcestershire	Severn	46	0%	48
93	Thames and Chilterns South	Thames	46	0%	25
94	Mole	Thames	45	0%	22
95	Arun and Western Streams	South East	44	3%	39
96	Lee Upper	Thames	44	0%	23
97	Tame Anker and Mease	Humber	43	2%	51
98	Severn Uplands	Severn	43	0%	27
99	Weaver Gowy	North West	43	4%	77
100	Welland	Anglian	43	6%	35
101	Adur and Ouse	South East	43	0%	46
102	Trent Valley Staffordshire	Humber	42	2%	41
103	Severn Middle Shropshire	Severn	42	2%	41
104	Waver and Wampool	Solway Tweed	42	0%	4
105	Kent North	Thames	42	0%	2

River health by River Basin District

Mean Gera River Health Index by River Basin District — EA WFD Cycle 3, 2022
River Basin District	Avg GRHI / 100	Management catchments	Band
Solway Tweed	64	5	Moderate–Good
Northumbria	63	5	Moderate–Good
North West	59	14	Moderate–Good
South West	59	10	Moderate–Good
Humber	55	17	Moderate–Good
South East	53	11	Moderate
Severn	50	10	Moderate
Anglian	50	13	Moderate
Thames	49	19	Moderate
Dee	46	1	Moderate

Check your catchment

Select any English management catchment to see its river health score and water body breakdown

Select a management catchment

Adur and Ouse

South East River Basin District

Moderate — ranked 101 of 105

▼ below England average (54/100)

Ecological status — 46 water bodies

20 Moderate20 Poor6 Bad

England: only 14% of all assessed water bodies reach Good or High status. Adur and Ouse is at 0%.

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UK river health — frequently asked questions

What percentage of England's rivers are in good ecological status?: As of the 2022 WFD Cycle 3 assessment, only 14% of England's 4,043 assessed surface water bodies (rivers, lakes, canals, coastal and transitional waters) achieved Ecological Good or High status. This means the large majority remain at Moderate, Poor or Bad status. Source: Environment Agency Catchment Data Explorer, OGL v3.0.
What is the Gera River Health Index (GRHI)?: The Gera River Health Index (0–100) is a transparent composite computed from real EA WFD classification data. For each water body: GRHI = 0.6 × ecological_score + 0.4 × physico-chemical_score, where High=100, Good=75, Moderate=50, Poor=25, Bad=0. If physico-chemical data is absent, the score is 100% ecological. Catchment GRHI is the mean of its constituent water body GRHIs. No figure is estimated; all inputs are real EA classifications published under OGL v3.0.
Which English catchment has the cleanest rivers?: On the Gera River Health Index, Till (Solway Tweed River Basin District) ranks highest at 78/100, with 67% of its 18 water bodies at Ecological Good or High status (EA WFD Cycle 3, 2022).
What is the WFD and why does it matter for river health?: The Water Framework Directive (WFD) is the legal framework requiring EU and UK member states to assess and improve all surface and ground water bodies across six-yearly cycles. Cycle 3 (2022) is the current baseline for England. Water bodies are classified as High, Good, Moderate, Poor or Bad for Ecological status and for specific physico-chemical elements. Only "Good" or above meets the WFD objective. The Environment Agency publishes all classifications under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Where does this river health data come from?: All classification data is from the Environment Agency's Catchment Data Explorer bulk CSV (environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/England/classifications.csv), covering 4,043 surface water bodies assessed in WFD Cycle 3 (2022 assessment year). Published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Gera computes only the GRHI composite; all underlying classifications are reproduced verbatim.

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GRHI methodology — how the Gera River Health Index is computed.

Contains public sector information published by Environment Agency and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Environment Agency — Catchment Data Explorer WFD Classifications (Cycle 3, 2022) (2022 (Cycle 3 assessment), published 2022).