The Meuse rises in France and flows through Belgium and the Netherlands to drain into the North Sea. The Dutch part covers the provinces of Limburg and Brabant. To meet the objectives of the Water Framework Directive, it is necessary to reduce nutrient loads (N and P) to most surface water bodies and to reduce nitrate leaching in several (vulnerable) drinking water abstraction areas. The main nutrient loads to surface water are runoff and leaching from agricultural soils, discharges of urban waste water treatment plants, and inflowing water from Belgium and Germany.
