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USING WATER QUALITY TRADING TO PROMOTE CONSERVATION MEASURE ADOPTION IN THE BLANCHARD RIVER WATERSHED, OHIO, IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Guo, Yanting, Guo

Abstract Details

2018, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Environmental Science.
Agricultural phosphorus loading has been identified as the main cause of Lake Erie eutrophication and Harmful Algae Blooms since the mid-1990s. Efforts for alleviating the problem have been focused on promoting the adoption of conservation measures, such as the best management practices (BMPs). Water quality trading (WQT), a market-based mechanism that allows one pollution source (e.g. a factory) to meet their regulatory obligations by using pollutant reductions created by another source, such as agriculture, is a method to promote conservation through the lower pollution remediation costs of that source. Agriculture has a vast potential for supplying low cost conservation, however, limited studies have been done on farmers’ opinions about WQT or their selection and adoption of conservation measures in WQT programs. This study aims to fill this knowledge gap. The general objective of this study is to evaluate whether WQT has the potential to serve as an incentive to promote water quality conservation measures in the Western Lake Erie Basin of Ohio in the USA. Based on the case study of the Blanchard River watershed which is a subwatershed of the Maumee River, the largest tributary flowing into the Western Lake Erie, this study investigated 1) how WQT models affected BMP selection and adoption, as well as farmers’ willingness to participate in WQT, in order to inform the current debate over credit “stacking” (trading more than one type of pollutant credits in one trading project) with insights from the potential credit suppliers; 2) the possibility of expanding the use of WQT from agriculture to another often-neglected nonpoint source, rural septic systems, encouraging rural households to improve nutrient removal efficiency of their systems; and 3) how farmers select and adopt BMPs based on their observation of climate change and prediction of its impact on local water quality. With quantitative and qualitative data collected from an in-person questionnaire survey completed by 96 farmers and 88 nonfarmers in the Blanchard River watershed, I employed binary logistic regression, special analysis and content analysis to investigate the different aspects of people’s perceptions about WQT and their adoption of conservation measures in WQT and climate change scenarios. The major findings are as follows. First, the farmers showed a clear preference for the credit “stacking” trading model (termed “All-in-One” WQT model) over the conventional single credit trading model. This preference led to enhanced interest in participating in WQT. Farmers valued both the economic and ecological benefits represented by the “All-in-One” model. Although planting cover crops was the most popular BMPs for farmers who intended to adopt in a WQT scenario, farmers’ adoption of cover crops or other BMPs was not significantly associated with their preference for trading model. Factors associated with farmers’ BMP adoption were much more complicated and were inconsistent among locations, types of BMPs and adoption stages. For farmers in the Blanchard River watershed, previous experience is critical to cover crop adoption while income and land tenure is important to no-till plowing adoption. In general, when considering BMP adoption, farmers were most concerned about yield loss and improvement in water quality. Given the complexity and heterogeneity inherent to BMP adoption, as well as the stewardship valued by farmers in the Blanchard River watershed, a small-scale, community-based WQT project might be more likely to succeed. Second, 58% of households that used septic systems were found to be interested in participating in WQT. WQT as an incentive for septic system upgrades had higher levels of acceptance in certain locations, namely upstream households of Blanchard River and Lye Creek. These households were more concerned about the environment, perceived the local water quality to be degraded and were aware of the limitation of their septic systems. Pilot WQT projects should be focused on approaching these households. Third, the study found that farmers’ observation of changes in climate was the main driver of their action. Farmers who had already taken action were those who observed climate trends more accurately. However, the observation did not significantly affect farmers’ intentions to adopt additional conservation measures in the future, even for those who had already taken action. Consistent with the farmers’ willingness to participate in WQT, environmental concerns and income were the most important factors in BMP adoption in the climate change scenario. In sum, while many farmers and septic system users in the Blanchard River watershed were open to the idea of WQT, some groups were more interested than others. Environmental awareness, income level, stewardship values, and concern about local water quality, were the indicators that could help WQT project designers identify potential participants.
Richard Moore (Advisor)
Karen Mancl (Committee Chair)
Charles Goebel (Committee Member)
Eric Toman (Committee Member)
212 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Guo, Guo, Y. (2018). USING WATER QUALITY TRADING TO PROMOTE CONSERVATION MEASURE ADOPTION IN THE BLANCHARD RIVER WATERSHED, OHIO, IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1524087055988291

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Guo, Guo, Yanting. USING WATER QUALITY TRADING TO PROMOTE CONSERVATION MEASURE ADOPTION IN THE BLANCHARD RIVER WATERSHED, OHIO, IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE. 2018. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1524087055988291.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Guo, Guo, Yanting. "USING WATER QUALITY TRADING TO PROMOTE CONSERVATION MEASURE ADOPTION IN THE BLANCHARD RIVER WATERSHED, OHIO, IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1524087055988291

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)