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Key messages

• A wide variety of management measures exists to tackle agricultural pressures on the water environment. To date, most measures implemented have sought to improve water management and increase the efficiency of resource use in agriculture. This has resulted in significant improvements and, in some cases, a stabilization in the exponential growth in agricultural pressures observed in the 20^th
• There is significant room for additional environmental improvements from increased resource use efficiency. However, reaching WFD environmental targets will require more ambitious uptake of sustainable agricultural production to reduce total resource use. To achieve this transition, ambitious policies are needed as fundamental changes in the agricultural sector will be required.
• The EU has a comprehensive environmental policy framework, developed over decades, that has contributed to tackle agricultural pressures on the water environment. A lack of enforcement has however impeded their successful implementation. Gaps exist in the policy framework, especially regarding agricultural abstraction and hydromorphological pressures.
• Greater coherence is also needed between EU environmental policies and the sectoral EU policies supporting agricultural production. Recent decades have seen improved integration of water targets in the Common Agricultural Policies. However, future agricultural policies need to be more ambitious on the scale of change needed in production systems. More systematic attention is needed to the ways CAP regulatory and incentive instruments support transition in farming production coherent with environmental goals.

To achieve a sustainable transformation in the water and agriculture domain, decision-making must be supported by robust knowledge systems from the farm to the EU level. Significant opportunities exist to improve the exploitation of existing data and technologies, and vastly expand our capabilities in monitoring and reporting progress towards sustainability.