Overcoming Agricultural Water Pollution in the European Union

As the European Union's member countries make progress on controlling water pollution from homes and industry, their attention is turning to reducing water pollution from agriculture. The intensification of agricultural practices--in particular, the growing use of fertilizers and pesticides, and the specialization and concentration of crop and livestock production--has had an increasing impact on water quality. The main agricultural water pollutants are nitrates, phosphorus, and pesticides.