Nutrient over-enrichment remains the key environmental challenge for lakes and reservoirs in Slovenia. For the assessment period 2014–2019, only 4 of the 11 lake water bodies achieved good or high ecological status. Recent annual data indicate no signs of improvement, and in some lakes total phosphorus concentrations are even rising. The main pressures are linked to human activities, especially inappropriate discharge of municipal wastewater, intensive agriculture in the catchments, and fisheries.

In 2023, drinking water monitoring was carried out in supply zones (water supply systems) that supply 50 or more persons (92.3% of the population). Large, medium and some of small supply zones that supply more than 500 (87.7%) inhabitants, generally have adequate drinking water quality. The smallest supply zones that supply 50-500 inhabitants are the least regulated, in comparison to larger due to the fecal contamination, as some with karst water resources.

The quality of inland bathing waters in Slovenia is high, as most are classified as “excellent”, which is better than in the majority of other EU Member States.

In 2024, we began reporting on the chemical status of groundwater for a longer six-year period, in line with the reporting cycle under the Water Framework Directive. Based on this assessment, the state adopts measures to improve water quality.

In Slovenia, 98.7% of surface water bodies are in good chemical condition. The two water bodies are in poor chemical condition due to the excess of metals. In general, Slovenian surface waters are not loaded with priority substances in the water, but they are loaded with too high concentrations of mercury and brominated diphenylethers in fish. These are ubiquitous pollutants that are excessively present in biota both in Slovenia and in Europe.

Water protection areas cover 3532 km² or 17,4% of Slovenia’s land surface in 2021. This is a slight increase, compared to 2017, but the goal of protecting the areas of all water sources for public water supply with a regulation on national level, has not been reached yet.

In Slovenia, in 2024, 29% of children (0-14 years old) in larger cities were exposed to concentrations of 0-20 µg PM₁₀/m³ and 71 % of children (0-14 years) in larger cities were exposed to concentrations of 20-30 µg PM₁₀/m³. In Europe, most children live in an environment where PM₁₀ concentrations are below 26 µg/m³.

Children in primary schools and kindergartens in the Municipality of Nova Gorica are only partially exposed to exceeded levels of road traffic noise. Measurements show that limit value for playgrounds (55 dB (A), set as a recommendation by the World Health Organization, is exceeded only at the most exceeded facade by 3 of 12 elementary schools and 5 of 16 kindergartens. As in the school year 2012/2013 1,162 students (in those 3 schools) and 439 children (in those 5 kindergartens) were exposed to some noise it would be reasonable to carry out noise measurements.

The limit value for environmental noise for playgrounds (55dB(A)) determined by the WHO was exceeded at the most exposed facade at 12 primary schools. However none of 34 kindergartens and 22 primary schools was exposed to excess noise limit at all four facades. There were 4,097 pupils in 12 schools and 2,909 children in 24 kindergartens where the high noise levels at most exposed facades were determined in the school year 2013/2014.

Air pollution with PM₁₀ was the lowest in 2021 since we have been carrying out measurements. For the first time, at no monitoring site did the sum of exceeding the daily limit value for PM₁₀ (50 µg/m³) exceed the number of 35, which is allowed for the whole year. Even the annual limit value for PM₁₀ in 2021 was not exceeded at any monitoring site.