The amount of agricultural spray that drifts into a wetland from an adjacent crop field is influenced by vegetation along the field boundary or any intentional setback distance (buffer zone) between the sprayer and the edge of the arable field. In this study, spray tracer drift deposits were measured in a simulated wetland area under different conditions of wind speed and buffer zone width. The effect of an artificial windbreak at the upwind edge of the simulated wetland was also evaluated. A level of tolerance of 0.1% of the in-swath spray deposition was established as a no-effect level for the response of aquatic plants to common herbicides. Our results indicate that a vegetated 10-m field margin (eg a fencerow) alone provides adequate protection from herbicide drift into a wetland area under wind conditions normally considered acceptable for spraying. For high winds (> 4m s(-1)) when field spraying would not normally be advised, adequate protection was afforded by the same 10-m margin plus a dense windbreak (25% porosity) or by the margin plus a 20-m buffer zone.