Trading water-quality credits is a sometimes-controversial but growing trend. An article in Stormwater magazine last year explored how Philadelphia is offering incentives for private property owners to invest in stormwater controls and clean-water technologies. Those with enough space and capital to build extended detention ponds, bioretention systems, underground storage systems, or similar measures would receive substantial discounts on their stormwater fees, enough so that the investment would pay for itself relatively quickly—and, if enough owners took advantage of the incentives, it would ease the burden on the municipal stormwater system. Although a credit-trading structure was not in place when the article was published, it was being considered as a future possibility: Property owners with space and money to spare could choose to “over-manage” stormwater on their own property and eventually might be able to sell credits to owners with too little capacity to retain and treat their stormwater onsite. This earlier article looked at how the process might work in a particular Cincinnati-area watershed.
The US Department of Agriculture is now providing grants—up to $10 million worth—to fund projects related to water-quality credit trading. Approximately half the money is intended for projects in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The department believes this market-driven approach will be a cost-effective way to improve water quality. Agricultural landowners are critical to the plan; farmers and ranchers who implement conservation practices on their land will eventually be able to sell credits on the open market.
In order for them to do that, though, the market for credits must be well established, and the complexities of trading credits where both point- and nonpoint-source pollutants are involved must be worked out. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service is looking for proposals for projects to set up market rules and infrastructure, establish and test metrics, verify the effectiveness of various conservation practices on ag lands, and educate and reach out to the agricultural sector.
Just last week, NRCS announced it’s extending the deadline for proposals for such projects to March 2, 2012. More information on the grants is available here, and an application is available online. NRCS will also host a January 24 webinar to provide more information.
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Upcoming Forester University Webinars
January 26th, 2012
5 Steps to Creating a Successful Public Outreach Campaign
Change starts with people. Whether your focus is stormwater pollution, energy conservation, pavement restoration, or recycling, a successful public outreach campaign resonates with your target audience and leads to long-lasting behavior change. Join Erica Hooper of SGA to explore a proven 5-step approach to crafting a successful outreach campaign based on real-world examples of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Read more…
February 2nd, 2012
Advanced Stormwater Treatment: Dissolved Pollutants
How effective are your stormwater treatments in capturing dissolved loads? With an average of 45% of the phosphorus load and up to 50% of the metal load transported through treatment practices to receiving waters in dissolved form, advanced treatment is imperative. Join Andrew Erickson to explore cost-effective, field-tested methods to capture stormwater dissolved pollutants and optimize stormwater treatment performance. We’ll explore several field applications and data demonstrating significant improvements in dissolved pollutant fraction capture. Read more...