Background Information on the Nitrates Directive
The Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources (details available on the European Commission (EC) Nitrates Directive on the EC Website)
was adopted by the Commission on 19 December 1991.
The Directive seeks to reduce or prevent the pollution of water caused by the application and storage of inorganic fertiliser and manure on farmland. It is designed both to safeguard drinking water supplies and to prevent wider ecological damage in the form of the eutrophication of freshwater and marine waters generally.
The Nitrates Directive was transposed into Northern Ireland legislation by the Protection of Water Against Agricultural Nitrate Pollution Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 S.R. No. 217 (as amended by S.R. 1997 No. 256 and S.R. 1999 No. 3) and the Action Programme for Nitrate Vulnerable Zones Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 S.R. No. 156.
The Nitrates Directive requires Member States to monitor surface waters and groundwater for nitrate pollution against a maximum limit of 50mg NO3 / l. Where this level of pollution is reached, or trends indicate that it could be reached if Action Programmes under the Directive are not established, land draining into the affected waters (and which contribute to pollution) must be designated as a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ). As a result of such monitoring in Northern Ireland, three NVZs were designated in March 1999 - one at Clogh Mills, Co. Antrim and two near Comber, Co. Down and four were designated in June 2003 - one at Knockloughrim, Co Londonderry, one at Kilrea, Co. Londonderry, one at Whitehead, Co. Antrim and one at Dromore, Co. Down. Action Programmes, limiting the amount of nitrates to be applied to land in the NVZs, were put in place in June 1999.
The Member State must also assess the trophic status of surface waters and determine the agricultural nitrate contribution to these. Eutrophication is defined in the Nitrates Directive as "the enrichment of water by nitrogen compounds, causing an accelerated growth of algae and higher forms of plant life to produce an undesirable disturbance to the balance of organisms present in the water and to the quality of the water concerned". If waters are found to be eutrophic, or in the near future may become eutrophic, and a significant amount of the nitrate present in the waters comes from agricultural sources, then the Member State must designate the land draining into the affected waters as NVZs and put in place Action Programmes or adopt Action Programmes across the total territory. Northern Ireland has identified the following five water bodies as eutrophic - Lough Neagh, Lough Erne, Tidal River Lagan, Inner Belfast Lough and the Quoile Pondage. The extent of eutrophic waters is currently under review and it is envisaged that other areas such as the Foyle and Lower Bann catchments may be identified as eutrophic in 2005.
In 2002, the Department of Environment (DOE) and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) were tasked with producing a Scientific Report(.PDF 1.79Mb) on the environmental aspects of the Nitrates Directive in Northern Ireland. It was prepared by a Working Group under the joint Chairmanship of the two Departments. The Scientific Report [DARD/DOE 23 Oct 2002] focused essentially on analysing the agricultural contribution to nutrients in eutrophic waters. The findings of this and subsequent analyses concluded that:
- Agriculture is the most significant source of nitrate in both Lough Neagh and Lough Erne contributing 75% and 92% of the total nitrate loading respectively. While the Nitrates Directive would mandate the control of nitrate in these catchments, there is likely to be little improvement in the eutrophic status of these waters unless phosphorus losses to water are controlled simultaneously.
- Nitrate from agriculture formed the dominant proportion of the annual nitrate loading in the remaining eutrophic areas: Tidal River Lagan (78%), Inner Belfast Lough (73%) and Quoile Pondage (94%).
- There is also significant nitrate loadings in other larger catchments in Northern Ireland as follows: River Foyle (92%), Lough Foyle (90%), Lower Bann (92%), Strangford Lough (90%) and Tidal Newry River (96%).
Monitoring of plant communities present in rivers of Northern Ireland confirms that the majority of rivers are enriched or are showing signs of enrichment. In addition, in the hundreds of small lakes present in Northern Ireland, nutrient concentrations typical of eutrophic conditions are the norm rather than the exception.
Declaration of Total Territory
As discussed above the Nitrates Directive requires that when a Member State has identified surface waters as eutrophic or likely to become eutrophic, their catchments must be designated as NVZs and an Action Programme applied to control agricultural pollution in those zones. Alternatively Member States may declare 'Total Territory' and apply an Action Programme across the whole territory, in which case there would be no requirement to designate specific NVZs. DOE and DARD published a Consultation Paper(.PDF 241.85Kb) on 14 April 2004 on the proposal to declare 'Total Territory' for Northern Ireland under the Nitrates Directive. That proposal was broadly accepted and, as a result, ' The Protection of Water Against Agricultural Nitrate Pollution Regulations ( Northern Ireland ) 2004' were made on 1 October and came into operation on 29 October 2004. The Regulations established Northern Ireland as the area to which an action programme will apply, under the Nitrates Directive, to control nutrient losses to water from agriculture.
Action Programme Consultation
On 21 February 2005 DOE and DARD published a joint consultation paper seeking views on the mandatory measures proposed for inclusion in an action programme which will apply to all farms/livestock units in Northern Ireland. The paper contains the detail of the proposed measures, outlines the need for them, the scientific rationale underpinning them, the costs associated with their introduction and the proposed timescale for implementation. The paper also sets out the proposed controls on the use of phosphorus on farms. The consultation paper can be accessed through the DOE website.
