1. Using Article 4(4) in the Fell Sandstone Groundwater Body, North East England
Tim Besien
WG GW Meeting, Malta April 2017

2. Till Fell Sandstone GW Body

3. Land Use

4. Developing a conceptual model

5. Nitrate concentrations

6. Status and trends

7. Where is the nitrate coming from?
Agricultural fertiliser
Small sewage discharges

8. Measures
Awareness raising campaign targeted at small sewage discharge owners
Catchment Sensitive Farming Initiative
NVZ action programme
Soil Analysis (SMN)
Soil Mapping and Direct measurement of N
Safeguard Zone designation
Drilling additional monitoring boreholes
Improved conceptual understanding

9. Justification for applying Art 4(4)
Local hydrogeologists have developed a detailed conceptual understanding of the gwb
Local hydrogeologists assess a) time lag in unsaturated and saturated zones and b) if measures are sufficiently robust to deliver good status in the long term
‘Natural conditions’ exemption used to extend the timescale for achieving good status
Good status will be achieved by 2040

10. Lessons learnt Start by developing a strong conceptual understanding
Before using the Art 4(4) exemption local hydrogeolgists must be confident that the measures will be robust enough to deliver good status in the long-term