Post a comment on the text below

Agriculture represents one of the most water-intensive sectors. Excessive use of pesticides constitutes a source of diffuse pollution for water, while pollution from nitrates affects over 17 % of the area of groundwater bodies. The EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) regulates the main aspects of agricultural production across Member States. In terms of water, Art. 38 of the 2013 Rural Development Programme Regulation provides financial resources for agricultural activities to achieve compliance with the WFD and other environmental legislation. Recent reforms of the CAP have led to a general decoupling of agricultural subsidies from production and the implementation of a cross-compliance mechanism, whereby farmers must comply with a set of statutory management requirements, including those that relate to water management. A range of other measures to improve water quality have also been suggested in the CAP and national agricultural policies. These comprise increased manure storage, the use of cover crops, riparian buffer strips, wetland restoration as well as a lower use of pesticides in areas close to surface waters and groundwater infiltration hotspots. Overall, the water environment could benefit from more integration of water aspects in agricultural production.  The combination of innovative technologies such as drop irrigation and financial incentives such as water tariffs could be beneficial in saving water in the European agricultural sector. In this way, private action can contribute to a more sustainable agricultural sector.

Box 3 Restriction of pesticides use and other sustainable farming programmes

Belgium sets out different measures to integrate pesticides with sustainable water management (NAPAN, 2014). One measure focuses on restrictions in buffer zones, which are set at 2 to 30 meters depending on the size of the water and extent of land use.

In France, economically grounded measures have been set up. The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) has implemented the Ecophyto Plan which aimed to halve pesticide use by 2018. To that end, environmental taxes on sales of pesticides have been introduced.

The United Kingdom implements a catchment sensitive farming programme. The scheme investigates impacts of agricultural practices, relevance of applied measures and draws out best practices in the sector (Thorén, 2017).

In Ireland it is not allowed to apply organic or chemical fertiliser or dilute slurry when heavy rain is forecasted within 48 hours or when the ground slopes are steep and a risk of water pollution exists (Amery and Schoumans, 2014).