**7. Conclusions**

Groundwater in Slovenia, as well as in many places across the globe, is the main source of drinking water. With the rapid increase in use of mineral nitrogen fertilizers and different agricultural as well as industrial chemicals in the past century, many of these substances found their way into groundwater. Slovenia as a European Union member formed its legislation based on Water Framework Directive and its recommendations.

Slovenia is not a big country, but it features very diverse terrain and climate. The main reservoirs of groundwater are located under alluvial plains, which are also centers of agricultural production. When speaking of groundwater pollution, leaching is generally the cause of it, especially on shallow sandy soils. Slovenia is no exception, as depth to groundwater is sometimes only 1–2 m. Apart from soil type, climate and land use also contribute to leaching, but land use is the only factor we can consciously change. To influence better use of land, legislation and guidelines are written.

 Main pieces of groundwater-related legislation in Slovenia are the Waters Act and the Decree on groundwater status. They define rules for management of waters, vulnerable areas, threshold values, etc. Decree on the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources, plant protection products act, and decree on the management of sewage sludge from the urban waste water treatment plants are also connected to groundwater protection in terms of definition of limitations, conditions of use, etc.

 Many different guidelines were written in recent and past years to help realize the legislation expectations. They contain different instructions, good agricultural practices, lists of promising measures, as well as also very straightforward clarifications of legislation in Q&A form. In terms of the future perspectives, several projects driven by Slovenian research and education institutions are also presented in the work, and their efforts explained.
