Nitrate Vulnerable Zones and Nitrate Sensitive Areas: A Policy and Technical Analysis of Groundwater Source Protection in England and Wales

The Nitrate Sensitive Area (NSA) scheme and the more recent Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) scheme are responses by the British Government to the growing demands of European legislation on water quality. Both are designed to check nitrate contamination from agriculture at source, with 'polluting' activities being changed or prohibited in areas forming the catchment of waters where the 1980 European Commission (EC) limit of 50 mg/l nitrate (N) is exceeded, or is likely to be exceeded. The NVZ scheme provides protection to surface and ground water,whereas the NSA scheme relates directly to the latter. Furthermore, action programmes to reduce nitrate pollution within NVZs are mandatory and uncompensated, whilst the more strict but voluntary measures of the NSA scheme are compensated. This paper sets out to critically analyse the NVZ scheme, with reference to the NSA scheme and further makes recommendations for an improved nitrate pollution land use control policy in relation to ground water protection. The study area is Minster NVZ on the Isle of Thanet in north east Kent.