Paying for ecosystem services (PES) and the water industry

Transcription

1 Paying for ecosystem services (PES) and the water industry Laurence Smith, SOAS, University of London Protecting Water Catchments from Diffuse Pollution - the Emerging Evidence Birmingham 21 February 2012 Westcountry Rivers Trust

2 Two RELU funded projects: Catchment management for protection of water resources a template for collaborative partnership working and adaptive management Innovative market-based mechanisms and networks for long term protection of water resources institutions, tools and partnerships Outline: - definitions and conceptual framework - context and positioning of PES schemes for the water industry - roles and characteristics of a scheme broker - two international water industry examples

3 Ecosystem Services in Water Catchments Provisioning services food energy (hydropower, biomass fuels) water supply Rival, excludable, and defined property rights, hence markets Non-rival, nonexcludable and problematic property rights, hence market failure and typically under provision Regulating services carbon sequestration and climate regulation flood and drought regulation Supporting services purification of water and air pest and disease control Cultural services cultural and psychological benefits recreation and tourism)

4 PES schemes within a range of other economic policy approaches Source: URS/Scott Wilson report for Defra, 2011

5 PES Definitions and Concepts Definition (catchment management context): payments to land managers for action (or non-action) that increases the quantity and/or quality of desired ecosystem services PES schemes can vary by: service(s) provided one specific service or bundles of ecosystem services financing payments to landowners, administered by government, sourced from tax payers payments to landowners, administered by government, financed by direct beneficiaries of ecosystem services payments to landowners directly by the beneficiaries of ecosystem services (often via an intermediary) trading schemes between private entities, e.g. cap-and-trade programmes basis for payment (and monitoring) output-based, payments for results input-based, e.g. for specified land use or management

6 Of most relevance to today are: input-based payments to landowners by water users via water companies (and other intermediaries) That demonstrate: a clear and understandable link between the payment and the delivery of ecosystem services voluntary participation, (including no requirement to participate in order to meet regulation or mandatory cap) recognition of the additionality of ecosystem service delivery that arises (i.e. above and beyond meeting statutory requirements).

7 Additionality : control of diffuse pollution needs a locally tailored mix of all measures Hierarchy of measures for land usebased pollution range through: ownership change/land acquisition land use change (income foregone/deferred) e.g afforestation lower intensity (income foregone) e.g. reduced stocking density capital investment e.g. increased slurry storage, fencing streams win-wins e.g. soil testing and nutrient management baseline regulation (X-compliance, NVZs) increasing cost and conflict designations/ conservation reserves water industry PES? agri-environmental schemes/incentives voluntary action needs enforcement

8 Complementarities of policy approaches Coordination requires a catchment scale vision and spatial plan INCENTIVES Provider is paid Environmental Schemes Paid Ecosystem Services Quality Assurance Schemes Works but needs institutional and market development Needs effective regulation and enforcement REGULATION Polluter pays Cross Compliance Nitrate Vulnerable Zones WIN-WIN Provider saves Cost-Benefit advice Best Practice farming Works but requires consistent trusted engagement Source: L. Couldrick, WRT

9 Elements of a Water Industry PES Scheme Regulatory and legal framework Collaborative catchment planning and management Land managers Ethical broker Beneficiaries and payers

10 Roles and characteristics of the ethical broker Roles: Set-up including research, stakeholder and partner consultation, legal agreements and monitoring arrangements Operation, including: research and modelling to establish and target appropriate land management techniques and practices identifying, recruiting, organising and advising ecosystem service sellers negotiating agreements demonstrating outcomes or practices establishing protocols arranging payments monitoring of agreements monitoring and evaluation of programme Building and maintaining social capital and legitimacy, Characteristics: independent, credible, honest, transparent, accountable, trusted and locally accepted Challenges: minimising set-up and transactions/operations costs maintaining equity and acceptance, for example, meeting the challenge that a scheme based on additionality may be perceived as unfair and rewarding the polluters

11 New York City Water Supply System Delivered unfiltered from the Catskills- Delaware watershed

12 Delaware County Action Plan Cannonsville Reservoir Basin agricultural basin New York City water supply P restriction impedes economic growth of county

13 # # # # # # # # # # # # #S Delaware County Action Plan: NYC Watershed From farm BMPs to wider measures: education and information campaigns monitoring and modelling farm nutrient management environmentally sensitive waste mgt. communities (septic systems) control of highway, storm runoff and road salt application control of soil loss during civil works stream corridor management restoration of river morphology and wetlands integration into planning and economic development Multiple barriers: source landscape stream corridor #S #S Cannonsville Reservoir $T #S #S #S Beerston R Farm #S #S Kilometers Shaw Road #S $T #S Town Brook $T DEC Continuous WQ Stations #S USGS Gauging Stations Streams Watershed N W S E

14 DCAP Partners DCAP integrates all levels of government authority, coordinates actions at County level by agencies and other bodies, and preserves local planning prerogatives. Local Planning, SWCD, CCE, Eco.Dev, Farm Bureau, DPW, Communities, NRCS, Chamber, IDA, WSA Regional CWC, DEP, WAC State WRI, DEC, DOH, DOS, DOT, Ag & Mkts, NYSSWCC, Cornell, ESF Federal EPA, USDA, Army Corps

15 Improvements in reservoir water quality Reductions in farm loads: Dissolved P 52% Particulate P 36% Ammonia-N 64% Sediment 45%

16 Groundwater protection in Lower Saxony, Germany Supply areas and drinking water protection areas in Lower Saxony advice for farmers partnerships with land owners and between agencies voluntary agreements and compensation for lower farming intensity special projects: organic farming and afforestation financed by a levy on water consumers the water penny and other abstraction charges

17 OOWV groundwater protection scheme 17

18 Successful outcomes Monitoring data WPA-Thülsfelde: Nitrate in shallow ( 20 m) observation wells (n= 28) wells underneath all types of landuse Start of Voluntary agreements in Lower Saxony 100 Nitrat in mg/l

19 Elements of a Water Industry PES Scheme Regulatory and legal framework Collaborative catchment planning and management Farmers NGO/charity Water company and their customers

20 Project Principals and Partners Funding: RELU programme of UK research councils, Defra and Scottish Government Principal investigator: Laurence Smith, SOAS, Univ. of London Co-investigators: Kevin Hiscock, UEA, Kelvin Balcombe, Univ. of Reading, Keith Porter, Cornell Law School Other partners: - The Westcountry Rivers Trust - The Association of Rivers Trusts - The Upper Susquehanna Coalition, NY and Pa, USA Research Team: Dylan Bright; Hadrian Cook; Laurence Couldrick; Alex Inman; Tobias Krueger; Mary Jane Porter; Paulette Posen. For more information: