Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what nationwide strategy is in place to tackle the effects of eutrophication.

The River Basin Management Plans developed by the Environment Agency (EA) provide the means for tackling eutrophication as necessary across England.

Risk-based monitoring is undertaken to identify waters affected by or at risk from eutrophication. Measures to control and diffuse sources of nutrients are then targeted within the catchments of affected water bodies. Some of these measures involve formal designations under regulations for the Urban Waste Water Treatment and Nitrates Directives regulations. Other measures are for improvements or to prevent deterioration against standards and targets for nutrients that are designed to address eutrophication impacts. In addition, some nationwide measures, such a restriction of phosphorus in detergents, and Farming Rules for Water, have been introduced to bear down on nutrient pressures.