Compared to similar market-based environmental programs that aim to address climate change or protect endangered wildlife, participation in water quality trading (WQT) programs has remained low in the U.S. for decades. According to a recent report, Breaking Down Barriers: Priority Actions for Advancing Water Quality Trading, a major reason why potential buyers and sellers hesitate […]
Road salts commonly used in the winter to melt ice and keep roads clear are not being effectively absorbed by mitigation measures, allowing the salt to reach groundwater and wells, according to Joel Snodgrass, professor and head of the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, Va.). “Current stormwater management practices don’t […]
Chesapeake Bay, the third-largest estuary in the world, has a chronic nutrient pollution problem. In 2010, gradual runoff pollution from more than 13.6 million people living in the watershed grew to national concern, prompting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set strict total maximum daily load (TMDL) regulations limiting nutrient emissions. Meeting those regulatory […]
Prudential Financial is investing $1.7 million in a pilot collaboration between The Nature Conservancy (Arlington, Va.) and asset management firm Encourage Capital (New York) to prevent millions of gallons of stormwater runoff originating in Washington D.C. from the entering the Anacostia and Potomac rivers. The venture, called District Stormwater LLC, is based on a new […]
On Dec. 10, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced rules for developing a voluntary water quality trading program to facilitate pollution reduction and protect the quality of state waterways. The rulemaking addresses essential elements of DEQ’s water quality trading program, with appropriate standards for accountability, enforceability, and provisions to ensure transparency. A lack […]
In June, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) had to shelve the first-ever public auction of water quality trading credits due to a lack of bidders. By installing best management practices, farmers in Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana generated 90,000 credits as part of EPRI’s pilot, interstate Ohio River Basin Water Quality Trading project. Currently, however, […]
On July 1, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) will release Advances in Water Quality Trading as a Flexible Compliance Tool. This new book explores the status of water quality trading and recent changes in the sector. It is a guide for implementing and using water quality trading for regulatory compliance purposes. Water quality trading is […]
On Dec. 16, federal government representatives, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, and others came together to recognize an innovative, market-based nutrient trading program run by Virginia to improve Chesapeake Bay water quality. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the White House Council on Environmental Quality lauded the trading scheme as a model […]
On April 16 in New York City, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) will host its first public auction for stewardship credits under the pilot interstate Ohio River Basin Water Quality Trading project. Interested participants should notify EPRI by March 16. About 90,000 Stewardship credits for nutrient reduction efforts generated by farmers in Ohio, Indiana, […]
On Jan. 8, the Des Moines Board of Water Works issued an intent to sue three northwest Iowa counties — Sac, Buena Vista, and Calhoun — over high nitrate levels in the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers. The potential lawsuit is an attempt to require better management of fertilizer runoff on agricultural lands, as nutrients […]
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