When applying herbicides within 1-5 metres of a water body, what restriction applies to spraying within one calendar year?

• A. No more than 10% of any 100 square metres can be sprayed within one calendar year.
• B. No spraying is allowed within 5 metres.
• C. At least 50% must be sprayed away from water.
• D. Spraying is unrestricted within 1-5 metres.

Answer: (A)

Protecting water quality by limiting near-water applications is the key idea. When you’re applying herbicides within 1–5 metres of a water body, there’s an annual cap on how much you can treat in that zone. The rule is that you can spray no more than 10% of any 100 square metres within one calendar year. In other words, for a given 100 m2 strip near the water, at most 10 m2 can be treated over the entire year, no matter how many separate spray events you run.

This isn’t a blanket ban or a fixed distance requirement by itself, so the option that would imply a total prohibition within that zone isn’t correct. It also isn’t about strict distance percentages away from water or unrestricted spraying—the limit is about yearly area within the near-water zone. If you need to treat more area, you’d extend the buffer or plan across multiple years, staying within the 10% cap.