The leadership demonstrated by these first SWCDs in Indiana to test the program will help pave the way for Hoosier farmers to voluntarily participate in the water quality trading market in the Ohio River Basin once it is fully established by 2016.
The states of Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky signed an interstate trading agreement on August 9, 2012. Even before that, SWCD Supervisors in these five southeast Indiana counties unanimously approved motions to participate in the project and sent letters of support to the program manager, the Electric Power Research Institute. District leaders recognized that water quality trading could be a win/win situation in fulfilling mutual goals of soil conservation and water quality, hence breaking new ground for water quality.
"The early recognition from the SWCD Supervisors of the potential importance of this market and their willingness to step up will pave the way for agricultural producers to benefit from this alternative source of private cost-share money" says Darrell Nicholson, Area Conservationist, Indiana USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service.
Jane Hardisty, Indiana State Conservationist, USDA NRCS, also is a supporter of the program. "This project will complement the work of NRCS and the Indiana Conservation Partnership," says Hardisty. "It provides another opportunity for producers to implement a system of conservation practices that increase soil health on their land, benefiting both soil and water quality," she adds.
The SWCDs help producers in their counties submit applications. If accepted, they will sign agreements with the individual Soil and Water Conservation Districts to implement the practices and maintain them for five years in exchange for the cost-share assistance.
The trading agreement serves as the basis for the three states to implement pilot trades beginning this year through 2015. Although some states have adopted trading policies or rules to govern trading within their jurisdictions, this is the first time that several states have come together to implement an interstate trading program where all states operate under the same rules.
As part of the partnership, the Indiana State Department of Agriculture is the lead agency for Indiana on the project and has contracted with EPRI and the five Districts. The SWCDs also are working with the American Farmland Trust, one of the project's collaborators, to recruit farmers to participate in the early pilot trades and calculate how many pounds of nutrients their proposed practices may reduce. The SWCDs are helping the project collaborators learn what works and what doesn't in executing these trades. The project pays producers up to 75 percent of the cost of implementing agricultural conservation practices that reduce the loading of nitrogen and phosphorus in watersheds.
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Heavy Use Area Protection (HUAP) is a critical conservation practice to ensure that livestock areas remain accessible to animals in all conditions. This is one conservation practice farmers may consider installing. Photo courtesy: Dearborn County SWCD
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The project is looking for a range of different practices to test based on the amount of nutrient reductions per dollar spent. Considerations include the extent to which additional environmental benefits (like carbon sequestration or wildlife habitat) are produced, whether priority concerns for the SWCD or state agencies are being met, and whether producers are willing to participate in media events or outreach to other producers.
