This report was initiated following the EEA's 2018 assessment of the status of and pressures on European waters, to highlight the role of agriculture in achieving an improved status of surface water and groundwater in future river basin management plans (EEA, 2018b; EC, 2019c).

The EEA's 5-yearly state of the environment assessment further highlights the need for an increasingly systemic approach to overcome environmental challenges and to achieve sustainability.

In this report we analyse how agricultural production affects water quality and quantity, and aquatic ecosystems, as well as the relevant policy interventions. With the aim of addressing how the water‑agriculture‑food system could be better managed, the assessment is organised around two guiding questions: How does the current system of managing agricultural pressures on water work? What is needed to improve environmental outcomes?