Progress
Stagnation or regression
Stagnation or regression

Desired direction: Increase

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Headline data

Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality
Year Value Units Series
2019 88.9 % Proportion of good-quality groundwater bodies
2023 88.9 % Proportion of good-quality groundwater bodies
2021 88.9 % Proportion of good-quality groundwater bodies
2022 88.9 % Proportion of good-quality groundwater bodies
2020 88.9 % Proportion of good-quality groundwater bodies
2018 91.7 % Proportion of good-quality groundwater bodies
2019 50.0 % Proportion of good-quality surface water bodies
2017 53.0 % Proportion of good-quality surface water bodies
2023 48.5 % Proportion of good-quality surface water bodies
2018 61.8 % Proportion of good-quality surface water bodies
2022 50.3 % Proportion of good-quality surface water bodies
2016 50.0 % Proportion of good-quality surface water bodies
2020 53.0 % Proportion of good-quality surface water bodies
2015 48.1 % Proportion of good-quality surface water bodies
2021 56.6 % Proportion of good-quality surface water bodies
2015 45.5 % Proportion of good-quality river water bodies
2017 50.4 % Proportion of good-quality river water bodies
2018 60.3 % Proportion of good-quality river water bodies
2022 45.3 % Proportion of good-quality river water bodies
2016 48.8 % Proportion of good-quality river water bodies
2019 45.7 % Proportion of good-quality river water bodies
2020 48.0 % Proportion of good-quality river water bodies
2021 55.1 % Proportion of good-quality river water bodies
2023 43.4 % Proportion of good-quality river water bodies

Geographical Area:

Unit of Measurement:

Footnote:

Methodological sheet of the indicator available for the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country.

Available indicator

Proportion of good quality water bodies
Target

6.3 By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally
Goal

6- Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Definition

The indicator is defined as the proportion of water bodies in a territory that have good environmental water quality. Environmental water quality refers to natural, untreated water in rivers, lakes, and groundwater and represents a combination of natural influences along with the impacts of all anthropogenic activities.

3 series are presented for different water bodies:

  • rivers
  • groundwater
  • surface waters (includes coastal waters, transitional waters, reservoirs, lakes and wetlands, and rivers)
Theoretical formula \[PMABC^{t} = \frac{MBC_{water}^{t}}{M_{water}^{t}} \cdot 100\]

where:

$MBC_{water}^{t} =$ good quality water bodies in year $t$

$M_{water}^{t} =$ total number of water bodies evaluated in year $t$
Frequency

Annual
Observations

The assessment of surface waters (ecological status) is carried out according to Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.

Groundwater assessment is carried out according to the Guide for the Assessment of the Status of Surface and Groundwater, approved by Instruction of October 14, 2020, from the Secretary of State for the Environment (SEMA).

The water body census corresponds to the water bodies that have a significant presence within the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country in accordance with Royal Decree 35/2023, of January 24, which approves the revision of the hydrological plans of the Western Cantabrian, Guadalquivir, Ceuta, Melilla, Segura, and Júcar river basins, and of the Spanish part of the Eastern Cantabrian, Miño-Sil, Duero, Tajo, Guadiana, and Ebro river basins.

For the indicated period, the evaluations correspond to status reviews using uniform criteria in accordance with Royal Decree 35/2023 and the technical advances that have occurred.
Data last updated 2025/04/22
Metadata last updated 2025/06/18

This section provides more information about the United Nations indicator or the European Union Sustainable Development Indicator, such as its rationale, international results, metadata, and other relevant statistics.

Rationale

Good ambient water quality is essential for protecting aquatic ecosystems and the services they provide, including: the preservation of biodiversity; the protection of human health during recreational use and through the provision of drinking water; the support of human nutrition through the provision of fish and water for irrigation; the enabling of a variety of economic activities; and the strengthening of the resilience of people against water-related disasters. Good ambient water quality is therefore closely linked to the achievement of many other Sustainable Development Goals.

Target 6.3 aims at improving water quality and indicator 6.3.2 provides a mechanism for determining whether, and to which extent, water quality management measures are contributing to the improvement of water quality over time. The indicator is also directly linked to indicator 6.3.1 on wastewater treatment because inadequate wastewater treatment leads to degradation in quality of the waters receiving the wastewater effluents.

It directly informs progress towards target 6.3 and is strongly linked to target 6.6 on water-related ecosystems, as well as target 14.1 on marine pollution (coastal eutrophication).

Source: United Nations Statistics Division
Comparability between the available indicator and the UN indicator

The available indicator does not comply with United Nations metadata but provides similar information.
International results

Proportion of open water bodies with good ambient water quality (%) EN_H2O_OPAMBQ UNSTATS

Proportion of river water bodies with good ambient water quality (%) EN_H2O_RVAMBQ UNSTATS

Proportion of groundwater bodies with good ambient water quality (%) EN_H2O_GRAMBQ UNSTATS

Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality (%) EN_H2O_WBAMBQ UNSTATS
Link to UN metadata

Metadata 6-3-2.pdf
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