Description of Water Quality Trading Project

Stakeholders in the Spokane River watershed have expressed interest in exploring the suitability of water quality trading to meet the needed phosphorus reductions that would be required to restore dissolved oxygen levels under a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for the River. EPA Region 10 has developed a guidance document, the Water Quality Trading Assessment Handbook, to determine if water quality trading is a useful tool to address water quality issues in a particular watershed; this guidance has recently become an EPA national guidance document. Expert support has been obtained by EPA to conduct an analysis in the Spokane River watershed to determine whether such trading opportunities might exist.

Rob Greenwood and Brewster Boyd of Ross & Associates Environmental Consulting, Ltd. are now on contract with EPA Region 10 to conduct analysis and outline the opportunities for water quality trading within the Spokane River watershed. Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Boyd assisted EPA in the development of their Water Quality Trading Assessment Handbook and have both worked in other communities across the country to study water quality trading opportunities. In the coming weeks, Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Boyd will conduct a series of interviews and coordinate with the Spokane River TMDL Collaboration’s Non-Point Source Workgroup to collect relevant data for their study.

Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Boyd will conduct their analysis using the first two steps of the EPA Water Quality Trading Assessment Handbook (for a copy of the handbook, visit http://www.epa.gov/owow/watershed/trading.htm). If the analysis conducted in these two steps suggests that water quality trading may be viable, then the next task will be to describe a process to develop water quality trading in the Spokane River watershed. If the analysis suggests that water quality trading is not an appropriate tool for the Spokane River watershed, then the next task will be to prepare a list of possible alternative approaches that achieve phosphorous reductions in an economically and environmentally sound way and to describe potential approaches to implement the most viable alternatives.

Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Boyd will give an educational overview of the water quality trading approach at the Spokane River TMDL Collaboration's June 23 Full Group Meeting. Draft findings on the suitability of water quality trading in the Spokane River watershed will be presented at the Collaboration’s July 22 Full Group meeting, where they will obtain input before completing their report.

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