DOCSLIB.ORG

Nitrate Vulnerable Zones

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Nitrate Vulnerable Zones Nitrate Vulnerable Zones Standard Note: SN/SC/4552 Last updated: 3 February 2009 Author: Christopher Barclay and Edward White Section Science and Environment Section This note sets out how pressure from Europe required the Government to reassess its implementation of the 1991 Nitrates Directive and reconsider how Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) are designated. Contents 1 The 2007 UK Consultation 2 2 The Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2008 3 2.1 Appeals 4 3 The situation in other countries 4 This information is provided to Members of Parliament in support of their parliamentary duties and is not intended to address the specific circumstances of any particular individual. It should not be relied upon as being up to date; the law or policies may have changed since it was last updated; and it should not be relied upon as legal or professional advice or as a substitute for it. A suitably qualified professional should be consulted if specific advice or information is required. This information is provided subject to our general terms and conditions which are available online or may be provided on request in hard copy. Authors are available to discuss the content of this briefing with Members and their staff, but not with the general public. 1 The 2007 UK Consultation The 2007 consultation on an action plan did not result from a new EU Directive. It stemmed from the 1991 Nitrates Directive (91/676/EEC). The European Commission had put pressure on the UK Government to adopt more stringent policies in order to implement the 1991 Directive. The Directive was agreed at the EU Environment Council in June 1991. David Trippier, then an Environment Minister, explained at the time: The Council adopted a directive to protect water from nitrate pollution from agricultural sources. This important new measure should help to secure improvements in water quality throughout the Community. It strikes a fair balance between protecting the environment and maintaining an efficient agriculture. Up to 2 million hectares of the United Kingdom may be designated as nitrate vulnerable zones under this directive, although we will only know the precise areas once the National Rivers Authority and the Government have completed the necessary monitoring and other studies. Within those zones farms will be required to comply with good agricultural practice, for example through controls on the timing and quantity of fertiliser and manure application. Member states will take additional measures where necessary to achieve the directive’s objectives, taking account of their cost and effectiveness.1 ENDS explained how the 2007 consultation derived from the Directive: DEFRA has issued three consultation documents on the control of pollution from farming in England. The documents are part of efforts to implement the water framework Directive and address the threat of legal action over implementation of EU nitrate rules…DEFRA has long been under pressure from the European Commission over UK implementation of the Directive. It received a final warning of impending prosecution in 2003 but successfully put off the inevitable tightening of the rules until now.2 Defra’s 2007 Consultation Paper describes how the UK had steadily had to back down on its original implementation strategy: 1.23 66 NVZs, covering 8% of England, were originally designated in 1996 for the protection of drinking water sources. An Action Programme of measures has been implemented within these NVZs since December 1998. 1.24 In December 2000, the European Court of Justice ruled that the UK had failed to properly implement the Directive because we had only designated NVZs for the protection of drinking water sources, rather than for all surface and ground waters. As a result of this ruling, a further 47% of England was designated as an NVZ in October 2002. The same Action Programme of measures that applied in the original NVZs entered into force within these additional NVZs in December 2002. 1.25 The Nitrates Directive requires that Member States submit a report to the European Commission every four years on the state of implementation of the Directive within their country. The Commission's overall analysis, as set out in a recently published report, is that “significant progress is now being made in the implementation of the Nitrates Directive, but that considerable further work in improving designations of 1 HC Deb 18 June 1991 cc1424-3 2 “Consultation on nitrates, diffuse farm pollution”, ENDS Report 392, September 2007 pp44-5 2 NVZs and the quality of action programmes is required in order to fully achieve the objectives of the Directive with regard to water quality.” The report also highlighted that nitrate concentrations in waters in the UK are amongst the highest in Europe. 1.26 Reviews of the extent of the NVZs and the effectiveness of the Action Programme are required by the Nitrates Directive every four years. The outcomes of both reviews should be used to make appropriate amendments (i.e. designate additional NVZs, and/or introduce reinforced or additional Action Programme measures). 1.27 The Department has just completed its reviews of NVZs and the Action Programme. The broad outcomes of these two reviews are as follows: • Nitrate pollution has increased in some areas of England therefore additional designations of NVZs are proposed • The current Action Programme has not had a significant impact on nitrate pollution therefore reinforced and additional measures are proposed. 1.28 The proposals discussed within this consultation document are a result of these reviews, and are intended to ensure that we are continuing to take appropriate and effective action to tackle pollution caused by nitrogen and improve the quality of our waters.3 Defra/MAFF and the NFU have been aware of the issues relating to the Nitrates Directive. When the UK signed up to the Directive, the Government believed that it would be acceptable to have only a few NVZs. The priority was considered to be drinking water. At that time, the UK Government favoured incentives to control nitrates from farming. In Nitrate Sensitive Areas farmers received subsidies if they chose to adopt measures to reduce nitrate outflow. However, that approach would be far too expensive to operate on a large scale. Increasingly the Common Agricultural Policy has moved towards requiring compliance with environmental objectives as a condition for receiving grants. Admittedly some extra money is available under Higher Level Environmental Stewardship, but that money comes from modulation. In other words, the overall level of farm subsidies is reduced by a certain percentage in order to finance the environmental schemes. 2 The Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2008 Following the 2007 consultation regulations were laid before Parliament in September 2008 and came into force on 1 January 2009. The Regulations; • Extend the areas designated as NVZs • Reduce the permitted annual level of nitrate application of livestock manure to grassland in a nitrate vulnerable zone from 250 kg/ha to 170 kg/ha (previously the lower limit applied to land other than grassland). • Change the period during which organic manure in a NVZ may not be spread and increase the amount of organic manure storage capacity required. 3 Defra, The Protection of Waters Against Pollution from Agriculture Consultation on implementation of the Nitrates Directive in England, August 2007 3 This means from 1 January 2009, the areas covered by NVZs increased to approximately 70% of England from 55 per cent originally designated in 2002. A methodology used to identify NVZs in England was developed from the designation criteria established in the Nitrates Directive. The Environment Agency led on designation. A detailed methodology of the process is provided by Defra: • Summary of the methodology used to identify NVZs in England (2008) Maps highlighting designated areas are provided on MAGIC the Government’s GIS information website: • Summary map of NVZs in England • Interactive maps of NVZs on MAGIC website • Guidance using the MAGIC website 2.1 Appeals The Regulations provided for appeals to be made against a decision to designate NVZs. Appeals will be determined by an independent Appeals Panel using submitted evidence. Appeals can only be made by the owner or occupier of the land in question and can be made if there is evidence to demonstrate that: • the land does not drain into water identified as nitrate-polluted, and/or • the water to which the land drains should not have been identified as polluted. Guidance was made available • Guidance for making an appeal in relation to land designated as an NVZ The closing date for submitting an appeal was 31 January 2009. Supporting evidence may be submitted until 10 March 2009, providing an appeal was submitted by 31 January 2009. 3 The situation in other countries Article 10 of the Nitrates Directive requires that Member States submit a report to the Commission every four years following its notification. This report should include information pertaining to codes of good farm practice, designated NVZs, results of water monitoring and a summary of relevant aspects of actions programmes for vulnerable zones. The most recent report appeared in March 2007. It contains material relating to different aspects of nitrate pollution of water, including the following table on NVZs: DESIGNATION OF NITRATE VULNERABLE ZONES Member States are required to review, and if necessary revise, nitrate vulnerable zones at least every four years on the basis of the results of water monitoring according to article 6 of the Nitrates Directive. The first designations should have been completed by December 1993 with revisions thereafter every four years. In the period 2000-2003 further progress has been made in nitrate vulnerable zone designation. Seven out of fifteen Member States took the option in the Nitrates Directive not to identify specific nitrate vulnerable zones, but to establish and apply an 4 action programme through the whole territory.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Verification of Vulnerable Zones Identified Under the Nitrate Directive \ and Sensitive Areas Identified Under the Urban Waste W
    FINAL REPORT European Commission Directorate General XI Verification of Vulnerable Zones Identified Under the Nitrate Directive and Sensitive Areas Identified Under the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive United Kingdom March 1999 Environmental Resources Management 8 Cavendish Square, London W1M 0ER Telephone 0171 465 7200 Facsimile 0171 465 7272 Email [email protected] http://www.ermuk.com FINAL REPORT European Commission Directorate General XI Verification of Vulnerable Zones Identified Under the Nitrate Directive and Sensitive Areas Identified Under the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive United Kingdom March 1999 Reference 5004 For and on behalf of Environmental Resources Management Approved by: __________________________ Signed: ________________________________ Position: _______________________________ Date: __________________________________ This report has been prepared by Environmental Resources Management the trading name of Environmental Resources Management Limited, with all reasonable skill, care and diligence within the terms of the Contract with the client, incorporating our General Terms and Conditions of Business and taking account of the resources devoted to it by agreement with the client. We disclaim any responsibility to the client and others in respect of any matters outside the scope of the above. This report is confidential to the client and we accept no responsibility of whatsoever nature to third parties to whom this report, or any part thereof, is made known. Any such party relies on the report at their own
    [Show full text]
  • Regulatory Practice and Transport Modelling for Nitrate Pollution in Groundwater
    Regulatory practice and transport modelling for nitrate pollution in groundwater Groundwater Science Programme Open Report OR/16/033 BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY GROUNDWATER SCIENCE PROGRAMME OPEN REPORT OR/16/033 Regulatory practice and transport modelling for nitrate pollution in groundwater M E Stuart, R S Ward, M Ascott, A J Hart1 The National Grid and other Ordnance Survey data © Crown Copyright and database rights 2012. Ordnance Survey Licence 1 Environment Agency No. 100021290. Keywords Nitrate Vulnerable Zones; groundwater; unsaturated zone. Front cover Modelled nitrate arrival time at the water table Bibliographical reference STUART, M E, WARD, R S, ASCOTT, M, HART A J. 2016. Regulatory practice and transport modelling for nitrate pollution in groundwater. British Geological Survey Open Report, OR/16/033. 74pp. Copyright in materials derived from the British Geological Survey’s work is owned by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and/or the authority that commissioned the work. You may not copy or adapt this publication without first obtaining permission. Contact the BGS Intellectual Property Rights Section, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, e-mail [email protected]. You may quote extracts of a reasonable length without prior permission, provided a full acknowledgement is given of the source of the extract. Maps and diagrams in this book use topography based on Ordnance Survey mapping. © NERC 2016. All rights reserved Keyworth, Nottingham British Geological Survey 2016 BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY The full range of our publications is available from BGS shops at British Geological Survey offices Nottingham, Edinburgh, London and Cardiff (Welsh publications only) see contact details below or shop online at www.geologyshop.com BGS Central Enquiries Desk Tel 0115 936 3143 Fax 0115 936 3276 The London Information Office also maintains a reference collection of BGS publications, including maps, for consultation.
    [Show full text]
  • Nitrate Vulnerable Zones Revision in Poland—Assessment of Environmental Impact and Land Use Conflicts
    sustainability Article Nitrate Vulnerable Zones Revision in Poland—Assessment of Environmental Impact and Land Use Conflicts Ewa Szali ´nska 1,* , Paulina Orli ´nska-Wo´zniak 2 and Paweł Wilk 2 1 Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, AGH University of Science and Technology, Krakow 30-059, Poland 2 Section of Modeling Surface Water Quality, Institute of Meteorology and Water Management, 01-673 Warsaw, Poland; [email protected] (P.O.-W.); [email protected] (P.W.) * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +48-12-627-4950 Received: 1 August 2018; Accepted: 10 September 2018; Published: 14 September 2018 Abstract: Despite concerted efforts through the European territory, the problems of nitrogen pollution released from agricultural sources have not been resolved yet. Therefore, infringement cases are still open against a few Member States, including Poland, based on fulfilment problems of commitments regarding the Nitrate Directive. As a result of the litigation process, Poland has completely changed its approach to nitrate vulnerable zones. Instead of just selected areas, the measured actions will be implemented throughout the whole Polish territory. Additionally, further restrictions concerning the fertilizer use calendar will be introduced in areas indicated as extremely cold or hot, based on the average temperature distribution (poles of cold, and heat). Such a change will be of key importance to farmers, whose protests are already audible throughout the country, and can be expected to intensify. To assess the impact of the introduced modifications a modelling approach has been adopted. The use of the Macromodel DNS/SWAT allowed for the development of baseline and variant scenarios incorporating details of stipulated changes in the fertilizer use for a pilot catchment (Słupia River).
    [Show full text]
  • Nitrate Management Discourses in Poland and Denmark—Laggards Or Leaders in Water Quality Protection?
    water Article Nitrate Management Discourses in Poland and Denmark—Laggards or Leaders in Water Quality Protection? Emilia Noel Ptak 1,* , Morten Graversgaard 1,2 , Jens Christian Refsgaard 3 and Tommy Dalgaard 1 1 Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Blichers Alle 20, 8830 Tjele, Denmark; [email protected] (M.G.); [email protected] (T.D.) 2 Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 10, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark 3 Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Øster Voldgade 10, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 17 July 2020; Accepted: 20 August 2020; Published: 24 August 2020 Abstract: The most significant source of nitrate pollution in the European Union (EU) is attributed to agricultural activities, which threaten drinking water, marine, and freshwater resources. The Nitrates Directive is a key feature of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), which seeks to reduce nitrate pollution from agricultural sources. Yet, weak compliance by Member States (MS) diminishes the legitimacy of the EU environmental acquis and undermines efforts to achieve environmental objectives. This study examines the nitrate management discourse in Poland to identify influencing factors that impact governance capacity and overall compliance performance. The empirical investigation is based on nine stakeholder interviews, three written correspondences, and a literature review that collectively comprise an evaluation study. A comparison in governance approaches between Poland and Denmark provides a calibration in assessing performance respective to another MS. The findings categorize both Poland and Denmark as “laggard” in WFD compliance. This case contributes new insights in identifying 6 enabling and 13 constraining factors affecting the ability of MS to fulfill their implementation duties.
    [Show full text]
  • Impact of Nitrate Vulnerable Zones and Catchment Sensitive Farming on Water Quality in UK: Case Study of Ingbirchworth and Scout Dyke Reservoirs
    Crimson Publishers Research Article Wings to the Research Impact of Nitrate Vulnerable Zones and Catchment Sensitive Farming on Water Quality in UK: Case Study of Ingbirchworth and Scout Dyke Reservoirs Hafiz Muhammad Nadir1 and Ash Ahmed2* 1Doctoral Researcher, Civil Engineering Group, Leeds Beckett University, UK ISSN: 2576-8840 2Associate Professor of Civil Engineering Group, Leeds Beckett University, UK Abstract The rivers and water streams are considered as a source of fresh drinking water for the human being on earth. The main source of water entering to these reservoirs is surface run off, snow melting and underground water. The water at the river’s mouth is generally in the form of small streams which are amounts due to anthropogenic activities and advanced land use by human beings. As per inspection of chiefconsidered inspector clean “Drinking but as they Water flow Inspectorate down the catchment, (DWI)” in pollutants2016, out ofand more nutrients than 4600 start waterto enter bodies in larger and 3700 rivers in England, only one sixth could get “good” status and two third could get “moderate” status as per European union standards. This is though a good achievement in Europe but alarming also, as all rivers This phenomenon is pronouncing more complications in drinking water reservoirs or compensatory reservoirsare required from to have where achieved water specified is taken “good”out to standardsutility companies by 2021 and(extended treated to for 2027 domestic for some water categories). supply incurring an enormous cost on its treatment before human consumption. The clean water standards *Corresponding author: Ash Ahmed, can be achieved only if a strict control is implemented on entry of pollutants/ nutrients from surface Associate Professor of Civil Engineering Group, UK run off using thorough catchment scale sensitive strategies.
    [Show full text]
  • Protection of Water Against Nitrate Pollution
    14 KH-43-02-098-EN-C EUROPEAN COMMISSION Implementation of Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources T M ISBN 92-894-4103-8 OFFICE FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES L-2985 Luxembourg 9 789289 441032 Synthesis from year 2000 Member States reports EUROPEAN COMMISSION Directorate-General for Environment Implementation of Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources Synthesis from year 2000 Member States reports A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu.int). Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2002 ISBN 92-894-4103-8 © European Communities, 2002 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Printed in Italy PRINTED ON WHITE CHLORINE-FREE PAPER TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 Introduction 5 A. General Context 7 B. State of implementation of the Directive 15 B.1. OVERVIEW OF EXHAUSTIVITY OF REPORTS 16 B.2. WATER QUALITY 16 B.2.1. Water monitoring networks 16 B.2.2. Results of water quality survey 18 B.2.3. Forecast of water quality evolution 24 B.3. VULNERABLE ZONES DESIGNATION AND REVISION 25 B.4. ACTION PROGRAMMES ASSESSMENT 27 B.5. A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF THE ECONOMICS OF ACTION PROGRAMMES 32 C. The actions of the European Commission 39 D. Conclusion 43 INTRODUCTION 5 Council Directive 91/676/EEC (hereafter referred to as the Nitrates Directive) concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources was adopted on 12 December 1991.
    [Show full text]
  • Protecting Our Water, Soil and Air: a Code of Good Agricultural Practice for Farmers, Growers and Land Managers
    Protecting our Water, Soil and Air A Code of Good Agricultural Practice for farmers, growers and land managers ES OF G OD O C O D A G R I C E U IC L T TU C RAL PRA Protecting our Water, Soil and Air A Code of Good Agricultural Practice for farmers, growers and land managers This code has been written by technical specialists from Defra and Natural England, and been produced in association with the Environment Agency S OF GO DE O O D C A G E C R I IC T U C L RA TURAL P Published by TSO (The Stationery Office) and available from: Online www.tsoshop.co.uk Mail, Telephone, Fax & E-mail TSO PO Box 29, Norwich, NR3 1GN Telephone orders/General enquiries: 0870 600 5522 Fax orders: 0870 600 5533 E-mail: [email protected] Textphone: 0870 240 3701 TSO@Blackwell and other Accredited Agents Customers can also order publications from: TSO Ireland 16 Arthur Street, Belfast BT1 4GD Tel 028 9023 8451 Fax 028 9023 5401 Published with the permission of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office © Crown Copyright 2009 Copyright in the typographical arrangement and design is vested in the Crown. Applications for reproduction should be made in writing to the Office of Public Sector Information, Information Policy Team, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU. First published 2009 ISBN 978 0 11 243284 5 Printed in the United Kingdom for The Stationery Office. N6012544 02/09 19585 416992 Contents iii Contents Paragraphs About this Code 1 – 14 Section 1 Introduction 1.1 Pollution
    [Show full text]
  • Method for Designating Nitrate Vulnerable Zones for Surface Freshwaters
    Implementation of the Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2015 in England Method for designating Nitrate Vulnerable Zones for surface freshwaters December 2016 © Crown copyright 2016 You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence v.3. To view this licence visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ or email [email protected] This publication is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at [email protected] www.gov.uk/defra Contents 1. Introduction and overview ................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 The review of surface water Nitrate Vulnerable Zones ............................................... 1 1.3 Evolution of assessment methodology ................................................................... 2 2. Key Concepts ............................................................................................................... 3 2.1 Continuous designations ............................................................................................ 3 2.2 Nitrogen chemistry in rivers ........................................................................................ 4 2.3 What form of nitrogenous compounds do we refer
    [Show full text]
  • Implementation of the EU Nitrates Directive in the Republic of Ireland — a View from the Farm
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by T-Stór 1 Title: Implementation of the EU Nitrates Directive in the Republic of Ireland — A view from the farm Author: Dr. Cathal Buckley This article is provided by the author(s) and Teagasc T-Stór in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite the published version. The correct citation is available in the T-Stór record for this article. NOTICE: This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Ecological Economics. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Ecological Economics, 78 (2012), 29–36. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.02.031 This item is made available to you under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 License. 2 Implementation of the EU Nitrates Directive in the Republic of Ireland – A view from the farm. Dr. Cathal Buckley Agricultural Catchments Programme, Teagasc, Athenry, Co. Galway. Tel: +353(0) 91 845293, email: [email protected] Abstract This paper employs Q methodology to investigate farmer opinions of the operation of the EU Nitrates Directive regulations after the first 4 year National Action Programme phase and explores the level of acceptance and refutation of measures from the view of farmers own knowledge and experience of land stewardship.
    [Show full text]
  • Adjustment of DRASTIC Vulnerability Index to Assess Groundwater Vulnerability for Nitrate Pollution Using the Advection Diffusion Cell”
    “Adjustment of DRASTIC Vulnerability Index to Assess Groundwater Vulnerability for Nitrate Pollution Using the Advection Diffusion Cell” Von der Fakultät für Georessourcen und Materialtechnik der Rheinisch-Westfälischen Technischen Hochschule Aachen zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Doktors der Ingenieurwissenschaften genehmigte Dissertation vorgelegt von M.Sc. Taiseer Harb Aljazzar aus Khanyounis, Gazastreifen Berichter: Univ.-Prof. Dr.rer.nat. Dr. H.c. (USST) Rafig Azzam Univ.-Prof. Dr rer.nat. Thomas R. Rüde Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 16. Juni 2010 Diese Dissertation ist auf den Internetseiten der Hochschulbibliothek online verfügbar Taiseer Harb Aljazzar Adjustment of DRASTIC Vulnerability Index to Assess Groundwater Vulnerability for Nitrate Pollution Using the Advection Diffusion Cell ISBN: 3-86130-621-2 1. Auflage 2010 Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Bibliothek Die Deutsche Bibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Da- ten sind im Internet über http://dnb.ddb.de abrufbar. Das Werk einschließlich seiner Teile ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwendung ist ohne die Zustimmung des Herausgebers außerhalb der engen Grenzen des Urhebergesetzes unzulässig und strafbar. Das gilt insbesondere für Vervielfältigungen, Übersetzungen, Mikroverfilmungen und die Einspeicherung und Verarbeitung in elektronischen Systemen. Vertrieb: 1. Auflage 2010 © Verlagshaus Mainz GmbH Aachen Süsterfeldstr. 83, 52072 Aachen Tel. 0241/87 34 34 Fax 0241/87 55 77 www.Verlag-Mainz.de
    [Show full text]
  • Malta's Water Scarcity Challenges
    sustainability Review Malta’s Water Scarcity Challenges: Past, Present, and Future Mitigation Strategies for Sustainable Water Supplies Lindsey Hartfiel * , Michelle Soupir and Rameshwar S. Kanwar Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA; [email protected] (M.S.); [email protected] (R.S.K.) * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 6 October 2020; Accepted: 17 November 2020; Published: 24 November 2020 Abstract: The small Mediterranean country of Malta, an island located between Italy and North Africa, has been facing and will continue to face water stress and scarcity in the coming years, receiving the designation as the most water stressed country in Europe. In the past, Malta’s water challenges were centered around water quantity concerns, but in more recent years, the severity of their water stress has been strengthened by the deterioration of the groundwater quality and quantity. Through the over-extraction of their groundwater, saltwater intrusion has steadily occurred into their freshwater aquifer systems, worsening their groundwater quality for both domestic and agricultural purposes. The objective of this paper is to conduct an extensive review on the history of Malta’s water problems and how Malta is working to combat its water scarcity concerns. Additionally, this paper investigates the impact of Malta’s water scarcity on its food and energy security challenges. Our study concludes that while Malta has obstacles to overcome in their pursuit of water security and sustainable development, the future remains hopeful, with several alternatives still available. Some of the alternatives explored in this review include wastewater reuse, increased awareness, use of alternative energy sources, rainwater harvesting, and implementation of nation-wide strategic water policies.
    [Show full text]
  • UK Progress on Reducing Nitrate Pollution
    House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee UK Progress on Reducing Nitrate Pollution Eleventh Report of Session 2017–19 Report, together with formal minutes relating to the report Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 6 November 2018 HC 656 Published on 22 November 2018 by authority of the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee The Environmental Audit Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to consider to what extent the policies and programmes of government departments and non-departmental public bodies contribute to environmental protection and sustainable development; to audit their performance against such targets as may be set for them by Her Majesty’s Ministers; and to report thereon to the House. Current membership Mary Creagh MP (Labour, Wakefield) (Chair) Colin Clark MP (Conservative, Gordon) Dr Thérèse Coffey MP (Conservative, Suffolk Coastal) Geraint Davies MP (Labour (Co-op), Swansea West) Mr Philip Dunne MP (Conservative, Ludlow) Zac Goldsmith MP (Conservative, Richmond Park) Mr Robert Goodwill MP (Conservative, Scarborough and Whitby) James Gray MP (Conservative, North Wiltshire) Caroline Lucas MP (Green Party, Brighton, Pavilion) Kerry McCarthy MP (Labour, Bristol East) Anna McMorrin MP (Labour, Cardiff North) John McNally MP (Scottish National Party, Falkirk) Dr Matthew Offord MP (Conservative, Hendon) Dr Dan Poulter MP (Conservative, Central Suffolk and North Ipswich) Joan Ryan MP (Labour, Enfield North) Alex Sobel MP (Labour (Co-op), Leeds North West) Powers The constitution and powers are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152A. These are available on the internet via www.parliament.uk. Publications Committee reports are published on the Committee’s website at www.parliament.uk/eacom and in print by Order of the House.
    [Show full text]