Points of observation under the Nitrates Directive

The Nitrates Directive (1991) aims to protect water quality throughout Europe by preventing pollution of groundwater and surface water by nitrates from agricultural sources and by promoting the use of good agricultural practices. The Nitrates Directive is an integral part of water legislation alongside the Water Framework Directive and is one of the key instruments to protect water from agricultural pressures. In Finland, Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources was implemented in 2000 by Government Decree (931/2000) on the restriction of the discharge of nitrates from agricultural sources to waters under the Environmental Protection Act (86/2000). Both the Environmental Protection Act and the Government Decree were renewed in 2014. The Government Decree (1250/2014) on the limitation of certain emissions from agriculture and horticulture, issued on the basis of the Environmental Protection Act (527/2014), entered into force on 1 April 2015. The Regulation contains an action programme within the meaning of Article 5 of the Nitrates Directive, which applies throughout the national territory. The data includes the monitoring sites for surface water in 2016-2019 in accordance with the Nitrates Directive, which have been reported in June 2020. The data is part of SYKE’s open data (CC BY 4.0) except for groundwater observation sites, which are confidential material according to the Publicity Act. The INSPIRE data product has been published from the surface water material. For more information: https://geoportal.ymparisto.fi/meta/julkinen/dokumentit/NitraattidirektiivinMukaisetHavaintopaikat.pdf The purpose of the Nitrates Directive (1991) is to protect water quality throughout Europe by preventing the pollution of groundwater and surface water by nitrates from agricultural sources and by promoting the use of good agricultural practice. The Nitrates Directive is an integral part of water legislation, alongside the Water Framework Directive, and is one of the key instruments for protecting waters from agricultural pressures. In Finland, Directive 91/676/EEC on the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources was implemented in 2000 by a Government Decree (931/2000) on the restriction of nitrates access from agricultural sources to waters issued under the Environmental Protection Act (86/2000). Both the Environmental Protection Act and the Government Decree were renewed in 2014. The Government Decree (1250/2014) on the limitation of certain emissions from agriculture and horticulture, issued pursuant to the current Environmental Protection Act (527/2014), entered into force on 1 April 2015. The regulation contains an action program within the meaning of Article 5 of the Nitrates Directive, which applies throughout the national territory. The data includes surface water monitoring sites in accordance with the Nitrates Directive for 2016-2019, which were reported in June 2020. This SYKE’s dataset can be used according to open data license (CC BY 4.0), except for groundwater observation sites, which are confidential material according to the Public Access to Information Act. Inspire compatible dataset has been published on the surface water data. The data includes the monitoring sites for surface water in 2016-2019 in accordance with the Nitrates Directive, which have been reported in June 2020.