Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The purposes of this study were to explore the feasibility and necessary conditions for
water quality trading to address water pollution from agriculture in Canada, including the
potential role of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC).
AAFC has no regulatory powers vis-à-vis water in Canada. AAFC promotes the
needs of producers for water and the reduction of risks posed by agriculture to water.
Through the Agricultural Policy Framework - a federal-provincial agreement signed in
2002 - AAFC is working with the provinces to achieve a wide range of goals, including
several related to water.
Methodology
This project examined the following components of trading systems: 1) the
biogeochemical considerations necessary for trading to be environmentally effective;
2) the regulatory/policy frameworks dischargers face for the development of water quality
trading programmes in Canada; and finally; 3) the main design aspects of trading
programmes, including roles of stakeholders and government.
The research included a literature review, commissioned research on the Canadian
regulatory framework (Sauvé et al. 2005, Tri-Star Environmental Consulting 2005), and
two workshops involving presentations, brainstorming and discussions among experts
from Canada (De Barros 2005, Campbell 2005, Fortin 2005, Nolet et al. 2005, O'Grady
2005, Weersink 2005) the United States (Breetz 2005, Kieser 2005, Schary 2005), the
Netherlands (Hubeek 2005) and Australia (Collins 2005). The workshops included
academics, consultants, and public servants with expertise in the biological sciences,
economics, and political studies.
Background: What is water quality trading?
Water quality trading
4
is a market-based system using economic incentives to
improve water quality. There are basically two types of trading systems, tradable permits
and environmental offsets. The first establishes individual rights - through permits - to
input levels, output levels or performance standards. In the case of water pollution,
individuals are allowed to exceed their authorisation to discharge if they purchase an
appropriate number of permits from another individual. Offsets are actions to meet a
standard at a site away from where the pollution occurs (MacDonald et al. 2004). Water
quality trading systems involving agricultural sources of pollution are in general of the
offset type.
Water quality trading has been implemented between point sources such as
wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) discharging nutrients, or between mining
enterprises discharging salt. These trading schemes usually address a specific water
quality parameter such as phosphorus, nitrates, salinity or biological oxygen demand. It
can also control effluents indirectly through an output, as, for example, the Netherlands
did with manure. The schemes can involve several thousand dischargers, or only two. It
4.
Water quality trading can also be referred to as effluent trading, the trading of pollution credits or
of pollution rights.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search