The National Ecosystem Services Partnership, an initiative of Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, will launch the Federal Resource Management and Ecosystem Services Guidebook at the A Community on Ecosystem Services Conference (ACES) December 8-12. The guidebook describes how ecosystem services considerations can be integrated into agencies' planning and management processes. Three sessions on the new guidebook will be part of the conference. Register to attend the conference and learn about this new resource from its creators. 

Allowing polluters to buy, sell or trade water-quality credits could reduce pollution in river basins and estuaries faster and at a lower cost than requiring facilities to meet compliance costs on their own, a new Duke University-led study finds. The scale and type of the trading programs, though critical, may matter less than just getting them started. The analysis shows that water-quality trading of any kind can significantly lower the costs of achieving Clean Water Act goals.

Nicholas Institute staff take Duke University's service-to-society mission seriously. On Sept. 16, staff prepared dinner for more than 200 clients of Urban Ministries of Durham, which has been alleviating the effects of poverty in the area for 30 years.

An article co-authored by the Nicholas Institute's Martin Doyle in the Journal of the American Water Resources Association reviews the legal basis for prior-appropriation water rights in 17 western states and demonstrates the potential uncertainty they introduce to current water users. This work quantifies for the first time the result, in one state, of a peculiar aspect of water law common across all western prior-appropriation states.

The Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and the University Program in Environmental Policy's Fall 2014 Seminar Series begins Oct. 17. Join us for discussions ranging from tackling temporal tradeoffs in energy efficiency to international negotiations. 

Duke students interested in touring the facilities of three leading energy innovation companies should register to join the Nicholas Institute and the Duke University Energy Initiative's Power Trip Oct. 29. This day-long tour includes visits to Siemens, Piedmont Natural Gas and Duke Energy.