Legislative challenges for lake eutrophication control in Europe

Abstract

There is no single piece of legislation which comprehensively addresses the problem of eutrophication of freshwater lakes. An examination is made of the extent to which national and EU laws applicable in England and Wales may be used to reduce phosphorus inputs to eutrophicated lakes. This case study is then used to outline the shortcomings of existing legislation and the future challenges for lake eutrophication control. Applicable legislation may be divided into that relating to nature conservation, to water quality and to agricultural extensification. Nature conservation laws are applicable, in that lakes designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), are theoretically safeguarded from degradation. The main limitation of the SSSI system lies in the boundary definition process under which, as a rule, no other category of legally protected land may be designated. Thus, the use of surrounding buffer land to protect water quality at the catchment level is generally precluded. The introduction of consultation areas around SSSIs of international importance under the EU Directive on Habitats is unlikely to alleviate the problem, since the area involved remains minimal compared to the extent of the majority of catchments. Intensive agricultural practices are responsible for significant nutrient enrichment of rivers and lakes, so that legislation aimed at extensification is also relevant. Examples of agricultural extensification include the Environmentally Sensitive Areas programme and various options available for Set-Aside land. However, the prime purpose of such initiatives is the alleviation of surplus and budgetary problems and, as such, they fall short of a fully integrated approach to the ecological management of farmland. Nutrient enrichment is, essentially, a water quality issue, but policy and legislation in this area are not yet sufficiently developed to address the problem comprehensively. The current regulatory process for water quality carries the potential to work comparatively well for point sources under the system of consents to discharge. This potential is limited, however, by the paucity of information available on ecologically acceptable concentrations of phosphorus in discharges. In addition, the consents system is not constructed to deal effectively with diffuse agricultural losses of phosphorus, since, unlike point sources, these tend to arise from the cumulative effect of many activities. The main legislative challenge for lake eutrophication control lies in the area of diffuse agricultural losses of phosphorus. In this respect, experience in the U.S.A. reveals that the use of comprehensive and catchment-wide ‘Best Management Practices’ is capable of producing significant water quality improvements, providing that some degree of mandatory compliance is incorporated.