Great Miami River Water Quality Credit Trading — Farmers Paid to Cut Nutrients for Wastewater Utilities (Ohio, USA)

The Miami Conservancy District (MCD), a flood-control and watershed agency in Dayton, Ohio, began a Water Quality Credit Trading Program in the Great Miami River Watershed in 2004 as a pilot, with Ohio EPA concurrence. Wastewater treatment providers facing nutrient limits can buy credits generated by agricultural producers who voluntarily adopt approved conservation practices that cut nitrogen and phosphorus runoff.
MCD reports that, through December 2015, the pilot contracted 467 agricultural projects, generated more than 1.14 million credits, committed more than $1.76 million to producers and estimated a lifetime reduction of 626 tons of nutrient discharge. Soil and Water Conservation District staff inspect projects in the field. MCD's projected costs for similar reductions were about $37.8M for agricultural practices versus about $422.5M for biological nutrient removal upgrades at treatment plants.
Caveats: reductions and cost savings are program estimates and projections, not independently audited results. An EPA review noted uncertainty in calculating nonpoint-source reductions, a 3:1 trading ratio and verification of only 5-10% of credits, and a review table listed few or no completed trades. MCD itself states that its published figures describe the historical pilot through 2015, not current annual activity.

Read the full analysis: https://www.mcdwater.org/water-stewardship/water-quality-credit-trading