Areas of action

Action areas are designated in accordance with Section 11a of the Water Supply Act. Action areas are areas where special efforts to protect water resources are needed to safeguard the interests of drinking water. For each area of action, the municipal council pursuant to section 13 of the Water Supply Act adopts an action plan. The basis for establishing the areas of action in this theme is groundwater mapping. Action areas within nitrate sensitive abstraction areas are identified in areas where there is a need for stabilisation of nitrate leaching, stricter requirements for nitrate leaching or lower nitrate leaching in the long term. This is assessed in practice in the light of land use. Larger contiguous areas where the nitrate load is permanently minimal is not identified as an intervention area. Changing land use could also lead to a change in response needs. For the designation, the Zone Management Guide (MST, 2000) and the Danish Environmental Protection Agency’s guidance note Nitratvulnerability and delimitation of NFI and IO, which specify the guidelines in the zoning guideline (MST, 2000). Action areas within pesticide-sensitive abstraction areas are identified from the soil’s susceptibility to pesticides, according to KUPA (Concept for Pesticide-sensitive Areas) for sandy soils. This is based on an assessment of the soil’s content of humus and fine grain fraction (clay and silt) in the upper meter of the soil. SFI is designated for sandy soils that are, or are likely to come, in crop rotation, and where there may be a particular risk of leaching of pesticides into groundwater, even if the pesticides are authorised and used regularly. The criteria for the designation of the SFI are as follows: 1.Within OSD and reclamation areas outside these. 2. Clay fraction < 10 %. 3. Not low ground or non-cultivated land (city, forest, infrastructure etc.). Pesticide-sensitive sand soils are delimited throughout the country. Reference is made to the report Action areas in pesticide-sensitive abstraction areas (NST, 2015).