Dataset Direct Download Service (WFS): Areas Vulnerable to Pollution by Nitrates of Agricultural Origin in the department of Nièvre (58)

Vulnerable areas are land designated in accordance with European Directive No. 91-676.

A vulnerable area is a part of the territory where water pollution by direct or indirect discharge of nitrates of agricultural origin or other nitrogen compounds that may become nitrates threatens in the short term the quality of aquatic environments and, in particular, the supply of drinking water.

Vulnerable areas shall be considered as vulnerable areas where:
— Groundwater and surface fresh water, in particular those used or intended for water abstraction for human consumption, with a nitrate content exceeding 50 milligrams per litre,
— The waters of estuaries, coastal and marine waters and surface fresh waters which undergo eutrophication to which the enrichment of the water with nitrogen compounds from agricultural sources contributes.

An action programme shall be implemented in each department concerned, setting out the requirements to be complied with by all farmers in the corresponding vulnerable area. They are constructed in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, based on a local diagnosis. They aim to correct the most pollution-generating practices.
Outside vulnerable areas, a national code of good agricultural practice is voluntary.

Each vulnerable area corresponds to a prefectural decree (coordinating basin prefect) after consulting the departmental council of Hygiene, the general and regional councils and the basin committee. Vulnerable areas shall be reviewed at least every 4 years.
This decree is the founding regulatory text of the vulnerable area.

The list of municipalities or parts of municipalities in the Loire-Bretagne basin classified as vulnerable areas is drawn from Prefectural Orders Nos 21.231 and 21.230 of 30 August, supplemented by their annexes.

The list of municipalities or parts of municipalities in the Seine-Normandie basin classified as vulnerable areas is derived from Prefectural Order No IDF — 2021-08-04-00005 of 4 August 2021, supplemented by its annexes