Over the years the project owner engaged a qualified third-party consultant, Strand Associates, to prepare a Water Quality Trading Plan which details the number of nutrient and total suspended solid credits available in the event agricultural activities were discontinued and the fields were converted to the prior natural environment. The Water Quality Trading Plan is finalized and approved by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (“WDNR”).
With the approved WDNR plan, the can be converted back to the natural environment, the reductions in nutrients resulting from such conversion will be available in the form of nutrient credits to sell to permit holders in the watershed that are subject to limitations for these nutrients. These credits can be used by the purchaser as an alternative to installing very expensive control technology to mitigate their own nutrient discharges.
Types of Water Quality Credits Available to the Project
- Phosphorus Credits-Long Term 1,114
- Phosphorus Credits-Interim 5,442
- Total Suspended Solids Credits-Interim 465,477
- Total Suspended Solids Credits-Long Term 95,338
- Total Nitrogen Credits-Interim* 56,700
- Total Nitrogen Credits-Long Term* 11,613
*Nitrogen Credits - Wisconsin currently does not trade nitrogen.
