Europe’s freshwater resources are facing a dire nitrate pollution crisis, endangering aquatic ecosystems and human health. According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), one-third of Europe’s freshwater supply already suffers from dangerously elevated levels of nitrates. This problem has escalated in truly astounding ways since the mid-20th century. The increase in pollution is quite literally grounded in one specific place. Its origins are directly linked to the transformative developments by German chemist Fritz Haber, who perfected a process for extracting nitrogen from the atmosphere to create chemical fertilizers.
Nowhere is the effect of this crisis more starkly demonstrated than the Baltic Sea. It’s home to a “dead zone” that is 1.5 times the size of Denmark! Like many coastal areas, this region is impacted by eutrophication, a process in which excess nitrogen from agricultural fertilizers causes harmful algal blooms that can suffocate marine ecosystems. Baltic herring, a small schooling fish that is the cornerstone of the region’s ecosystem, has plummeted 80 percent in the Baltic since 1970. This steep drop is ringing alarm bells among conservation scientists.
The European Union (EU) has also been doing great efforts to control nitrate pollution through the Nitrates Directive. Yet, the reality has hardly changed all that much over the past three decades. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is key to the conundrum. It spends close to a third of the EU budget and, despite its good intentions, causes significant nitrate pollution with its subsidies.
The Eutrophication Crisis
Eutrophication is the single greatest threat to the health of aquatic ecosystems. The nitrates and phosphates that are the result of agricultural runoff cause conditions that lead to the algal blooms. This phenomenon creates dead zones, or areas of huge oxygen depletion in water bodies, which can be deadly to fish and other aquatic organisms.
Ingo Fetzer, an environmental expert, emphasized the far-reaching impacts of eutrophication, stating, “It is bringing whole ecosystems out of balance.” He illustrated how this imbalance results in suffocating fish and smaller wildlife. It poses a serious risk to entire terrestrial ecosystems that are intricately connected to aquatic life, from sea eagles to human fishing communities.
As experts have pointed out, there are deep challenges to monitoring pollution from agricultural sources. Caroline Whalley, manager of water industries and pollution at the EEA, said that it is very difficult to monitor this type of pollution. When you’ve got a pipe coming out of a factory and you’ve got a pollutant that comes from that factory, you can say, ‘Do something about it,’” she explained.
Agricultural pollutants are more of a diffuse nature across the landscape so it is not as possible to target specific sources. Whalley further explained that “it’s very difficult to identify an owner” when every farmer uses nitrates in their practices.
Regulatory Frameworks and Challenges
In the EU, the Nitrates Directive seeks to prevent nitrate pollution by establishing caps on fertilizer applications. Even with its inception almost three decades ago, compliance and effectiveness are still in doubt. The implementation of the directive will be hampered by a plethora of exemptions. These exemptions, known as “derogations,” allow certain member states to go above the baseline nitrate thresholds.
These countries, along with Denmark and Netherlands—and as seen locally, Ireland—have reaped significant benefits from derogations. These derogations enable them to apply far greater amounts of nitrates per hectare than the usual annual cap. Ireland has long received approval for the maximum of 250 kgN/ha. This number—220 kilograms—is much higher than the typical limit of 170 kilograms.
Edward Burgess, an expert in agricultural policy, defended this approach by stating, “The 250kg limit wasn’t plucked out of the air to allow people to farm at a level that would damage water.” In terms of the $4 relationship, he defended that number, claiming it’s based on research. It proves that farming of this intensive scale can be sustainable if managed properly.
As critics point out, a series of exemptions to these far too often undercut the directive’s transformative goals. Michal Wiezik, a Member of the European Parliament, criticized the practice, asserting, “They call it simplification, I call it deregulation.” He noted that keeping derogations would only sink us deeper into the status quo of persistent pollution without an actual solution.
The Path Forward
Though regulatory frameworks have existed for decades, nitrate pollution spreads unabated across Europe. The EU’s reluctance to allow derogations to individual member states has been the largest hurdle in addressing this widespread and annoying problem. The European Commission’s Nitrate Committee considers these requests every four years, but critics say the process is toothless and fails alarming levels of scrutiny.
Sara Johansson, a water expert with the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), pointed out that poor implementation of regulations is a critical factor in addressing nitrate pollution. Farmers can mis-manage. Though she said most farmers are doing all of the best practices, some still cut corners. It’s extremely hard to point a finger and say, ‘It was you!’ because with nitrate everybody is using it,” she said.
The impacts if we do not take action against nitrate pollution ripple past our ponds and streams. Eutrophication has extensive impacts on biodiversity and human health. Fetzer warned that “eutrophication means you have fishes dying,” which affects not only marine species but land ecosystems dependent on fish populations.
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