Nitrates Directive: Water Pollution from Agricultural Sources

The Nitrates Directive aims to reduce and prevent water pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources, with the primary emphasis on the management of livestock manures and other fertilisers. The main provisions of this directive are:

To monitor and identify polluted waters or water liable to pollution from agricultural nitrates
To promote the code of good agricultural practice to farmers
To identify areas where a remediation programme should be applied
To protect waters from pollution by nitrates from agricultural sources
To develop/implement action programmes to reduce and prevent pollution
To implement/update programmes on a four-year cycle

Under the the Water Framework Directive the bodies of water that need to be protected are:

All surface waters (lakes, rivers, canals, reservoirs)
Groundwater
Estuarine waters (or Transitional waters)
Coastal waters (up to 12 nautical miles from our shores)

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