Ireland is unlikely to see any meaningful improvements in the water quality of its rivers, lakes or coastal waters “anytime soon”, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said, after a new report found little change last year.The EPA’s latest evaluation of water bodies, published on Wednesday, found little improvement in quality during 2025, saying overall it remained “unsatisfactory in many areas”.Its assessment found that the “very best rivers” continue to deteriorate, with their condition said to have “dropped significantly” over the past decade.Of the 86 such “high-status” river water courses monitored last year, 77 remained unchanged, eight declined and “only one” improved in quality.“More worryingly,” said the EPA, there has been a net decline of 25 per cent in these high-quality rivers since 2012.Roni Hawe, director of the EPA’s Office of Evidence and Assessment, said the decline is a serious warning sign.“These are our best waters, and once they are lost, they are difficult to recover,” she said.Overall, the biological health of rivers and lakes has shown little change, with just over half (54 per cent) rated “good” or “better”.[ Drinking water is safe but problems persist with THMs, lead and other contaminants, says EPAOpens in new window ]Nutrient levels, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus, from agriculture, poorly treated wastewater discharges and runoff from land, remain “too high in many places” and are the “greatest challenge” to water quality improvements, according to the report.When these nutrients reach water bodies, they cause excessive algae growth, reducing oxygen levels and blocking sunlight, subsequently damaging habitats and harming aquatic life.“Water quality will not improve unless nutrient pollution is reduced. Right now, there is no clear sign of long‑term reductions in nutrient levels, making it unlikely that we will see meaningful improvements in water quality any time soon,” notes the report.While some areas improved, such as the Ballyteigue-Bannow catchment in Co Wexford, where six of 16 rivers surveyed improved in biological quality, these are being “offset by declines elsewhere”.Of the 714 sections of river assessed countrywide, the quality of 515 remained unchanged, 109 declined and 90 improved.Three rivers were found to be in “bad condition” last year. These were stretches of the Folies stream within the river Laune catchment in Kerry, the Ahavarraga stream in Limerick and the Clareen, a tributary of the Nenagh river in Tipperary.The three have had long-term problems from “various pressures”, including farming and urban wastewater.Some 224 lakes were monitored, 54 per cent of which were found to be high or good quality.[ ‘Odour emissions and discharges to water’ a persistent problem at sites inspected by EPAOpens in new window ]Some 46 per cent of lakes are of moderate or worse quality. Among those, 11 (5 per cent) were in bad biological quality, “the worst class”.The majority of lakes that failed to achieve good quality were in the Erne and Shannon catchments.Separately, nitrate concentrations were found to be too high in 22 per cent of groundwater sites surveyed, particularly in the east and southeast, while 20 per cent of estuarine and coastal waters were in an “unsatisfactory condition” for nitrogen, particularly in eastern and southern coasts.The EPA’s findings should “concern all of us”, said Hawe. Noting that clean water underpins healthy ecosystems, safe drinking water, recreation and local economies, she called for “greater urgency to cut pollution and protect the waters we all depend on. Our actions must match the scale of the problem.”