Water protection proves to be a difficult task, whether it is dealt with through legislation or the implementation of a process to reduce further pollution. This study considers how the issue of water pollution from nitrates in agricultural practices has become better understood through the reforms of the common agriculture policy (CAP) and the enactment of various regulations and directives by EU. The implementation of the EC Nitrate Directive is a main focus of this study because it was a major movement towards protecting water against pollution from agriculture, and an important step in implementing the Water Framework Directive. The implementation process is analyzed from both a formal and practical perspective, along with a discussion of the difficulties that arose in the implementation phase. There is a focus on the implementation of the Nitrate Directive in UK, with an emphasis on England as a case study. The study finds that if the distribution of responsibilities (planning, regulating, implementing, and reporting) is shared between national, regional and local bodies, the compliance with political regulations becomes easier. It is also concluded that rearrangements of the existing institutions are necessary to reduce costs, exchange new ideas that could translate to regulative ideas, and create an atmosphere of trust between regulators and implementers. It can be concluded from this study that, despite the traditional centralization of governments, England has taken several steps towards integrating institutions and has tried to be open and responsive to the local communities. Finally, there are several lessons that can be learned from the UK’s approach to control nitrate pollution, which are discussed and outlined in the conclusion of this study.

Water protection proves to be a difficult task, whether it is dealt with through legislation or the implementation of a process to reduce further pollution. This study considers how the issue of water pollution from nitrates in agricultural practices has become better understood through the reforms of the common agriculture policy (CAP) and the enactment of various regulations and directives by EU. The implementation of the EC Nitrate Directive is a main focus of this study because it was a major movement towards protecting water against pollution from agriculture, and an important step in implementing the Water Framework Directive. The implementation process is analyzed from both a formal and practical perspective, along with a discussion of the difficulties that arose in the implementation phase. There is a focus on the implementation of the Nitrate Directive in UK, with an emphasis on England as a case study. The study finds that if the distribution of responsibilities (planning, regulating, implementing, and reporting) is shared between national, regional and local bodies, the compliance with political regulations becomes easier. It is also concluded that rearrangements of the existing institutions are necessary to reduce costs, exchange new ideas that could translate to regulative ideas, and create an atmosphere of trust between regulators and implementers. It can be concluded from this study that, despite the traditional centralization of governments, England has taken several steps towards integrating institutions and has tried to be open and responsive to the local communities. Finally, there are several lessons that can be learned from the UK’s approach to control nitrate pollution, which are discussed and outlined in the conclusion of this study.