Nitrate pollution declines but there's room for improvement
A new European Commission report says that nitrate levels in EU waters are falling, which is good news for the environment and proves that legislation in recent years to stop nitrate levels from becoming too high is working. The report also says, however, that in some regions nitrate levels are still too high exceeding EU water quality standards. Farmers in these regions also need to continue to adopt more sustainable practices. The report is on the implementation of the Nitrates Directive which targets nitrate pollution control and better water quality in the EU. The report shows that levels of nitrates are either steady or declining in different regions of the EU; that 2004 and 2007 nitrate levels in rivers, lakes and canals either remained stable or fell at 70% of the monitored sites. Commenting on the report, European Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik said: 'Safeguarding water quality is a top priority for European environment policy. Farmers have worked hard to improve fertilisation management which is now yielding benefits and improving water quality trends. However, in some regions, meeting EU water quality standards remains a serious and continuing challenge.' The use of nitrates in agriculture has been responsible for much water pollution in the EU over the past decades. Nitrate-based fertilisers are very successful in increasing crop yield, but high levels in food and drinking water can be toxic to human beings. Nitrate pollution of rivers, caused by agricultural run-off from land fertilised with nitrate fertilisers, can also poison the waters, kill fish and end up in the food chain. Despite the good news, the report notes that nitrate levels are still too high in certain regions. Elevated levels were found in groundwater in England, UK, parts of Estonia, the south-east Netherlands, Flanders in Belgium, Brittany in France, northern Italy, north-east Spain, south-east Slovakia, southern Romania, and parts of Malta and Cyprus. More than 300 different programmes are currently operating in the EU to monitor nitrate levels and improve water quality. These include 31,000 groundwater monitoring and sampling sites, and 27,000 surface water stations throughout the EU, measures to prohibit fertilisation at certain times, minimum storage rules for livestock manure and rules to control the spread of nutrient fertilisers near water or on slopes where it could run-off into water. These measures are also important in helping to improve air quality and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide and methane. Another important action is the designation of particularly vulnerable areas for special action programmes in certain Member States. Programmes have been carried out to inform and train farmers in better fertilisation management, and while they have been largely successful, further work is needed. The report says that many Member States must increase their efforts in a number of areas including identifying and monitoring pollution trouble spots and developing stronger action programmes. Another positive trend noted in the report is the growing interest from farmers in innovative feeding methods and new techniques in manure processing. These are often combined with techniques for energy recovery. Groups of EU farmers, most notably in Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands, have invested in cooperative projects in these techniques. The full report from the Nitrates Directive is available at WISE (Water Information System for Europe).