Plain English guidance on Nitrate Vunerable Zones can be found on the Business Link website.

To address the problem of diffuse water pollution from nitrates, and in accordance with the EC Nitrates Directive Defra has designated areas as Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) – locations where the threat of run-off into rivers and watercourses is most acute.

Latest news

• 20 December 2011 – Implementation of the Nitrates Directive in England 2013-2016 consultation published
• Applications for NVZ derogation – applications opened on 1 October 2011 for farmers of grazing livestock in Nitrate Vulnerable Zones wishing to apply for a derogation to spread up to 250kg of livestock nitrogen manure per hectare in 2011. This is an increase on the limit of 170kg set by the EU Nitrates Directive.

Are you in an NVZ?

• Check the regional map for your area
• Check the national map (PDF 550 KB)

What you have to do?

• If your farm is in an NVZ, you must comply with a series of NVZ rules. In addition, to qualify for the Single Payment Scheme or other direct farm payments, you must fulfil Statutory Management Requirement (SMR) 4, which explicitly covers NVZs.
• If your farm is not in an NVZ, it is still a good idea to follow Defra’s code of good agricultural practice. It will help keep nitrate levels down and make it less likely your farms will be designated as an NVZ in the future. Download the code of good agricultural practice (PDF 1.2 MB).
• Learn more about NVZs and how to comply with SMR4 on the Business Link website.
• If your farm is at least 80% grassland you may be eligible for derogation from the NVZ rules.

Help and support

Defra has produced a range of leaflets and downloads to help farmers and landowners comply with the NVZ rules.

Implementing the Nitrates Directive in England

The Nitrates Directive, adopted by the European Union in 1991, aims to reduce water pollution caused by nitrogen from agricultural sources and to prevent such pollution in the future.

The Directive requires Member States to:

• designate as Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) all land draining to waters that are affected by nitrate pollution.
• establish a voluntary code of good agricultural practice to be followed by all farmers throughout the country.
• establish a mandatory Action Programme of measures for the purposes of tackling nitrate loss from agriculture.  The Action Programme should be applied either within NVZs or throughout the whole country.
• review the extent of their NVZs and the effectiveness of their Action Programmes at least every four years and to make amendments if necessary.

The European Commission website has further details including the full text of the Directive and a report on how it has been implemented across Europe.

Designating Nitrate Vulnerable Zones

The Nitrates Directive requires member states to identify waters which are or could become polluted by nitrates and to designate as Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) all land draining to those waters and contributing to the pollution. The methodology used to identify NVZs in England builds upon the criteria for identifying nitrate-polluted water established in the Nitrates Directive:

• Surface freshwaters which contain or could contain, if preventative action is not taken,
•  nitrate concentrations greater than 50mg/l.
• Groundwaters which contain or could contain, if preventative action is not taken, nitrate concentrations greater than 50mg/l.
• Natural freshwater lakes, or other freshwater bodies, estuaries, coastal waters and marine waters which are eutrophic or may become so in the near future if protective action is not taken.

Summary of the methodology used to identify NVZs in England (2008) (PDF 2.6 MB)

Establishing an Action Programme of measures

The Nitrates Directive requires member states to establish a mandatory Action Programme of measures, which must be followed by farmers with land in NVZs to tackle nitrate loss from agriculture.

The Directive requires that the Action Programme contain rules relating to:

• periods when the land application of certain types of fertilizer is prohibited;
• the capacity of storage vessels for livestock manure;
• the land application of fertilizer to steeply sloping ground;
• the land application of fertilizer to water-saturated, flooded, frozen or snow-covered ground;
• the conditions for land application of fertilizer near water courses;
• procedures for the land application, including rate and uniformity of spreading, of both chemical fertilizer and livestock manure;
• limitation of the land application of fertilizers based on a balance between the foreseeable nitrogen requirements of the crops, and the nitrogen supply to the crops from the soil and from fertilization; and
• the amount of livestock manure applied to the land each year, including by the animals themselves, shall not exceed 170 kg N per hectare.

There is an obligation on member states to review the effectiveness of the Action Programme measures at least every four years.